Easter

5&6 April'07 : Our visit to Trichur & Guruvayoor happened to coincide with Easter. Easter, the Sunday of the Resurrection, is the most important religious feast of the Christian Lithurgical year, observed at some point between late March and late April each year. Easter Sunday falls on 8 April this year. It celebrates the resurrection, which his followers believe occurred on the third day after his death by crucifixion. In Western Christianity, Easter marks the end of the forty days of Lent, a period of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter which begins on Ash Wednesday. The week before Easter is very special in the Christian tradition: the Sunday before is Palm Sunday (also referred as Yew Sunday), and the last three days before Easter are Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday (sometimes referred to as Silent Saturday). Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday respectively commemorate Jesus' entry in Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the Crucifixion.
We decided to visit two big churches in Trichur - Shrine Basilica of our Lady of Dolores and The Lourdes Metropolitan Church both magnificent monuments.
The Shrine Basilica is not only a highly visited pilgrim center, but also a tourist attraction. It has two colossal belfries built in gothic style. The church is 370 feet long east-west side and 180 feet wide along north-south side. The total plinth area of the church measures 25,000 square feet. The rear side of the Church has a tower measuring 260 feet in height.
Our Lady of Lourdes Metropolitan Cathedral is the tallest church tower in Asia, situated in the heart of the town of Trichur,the Centenary of which was celebrated during the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to Thrissur in 1986. The well decorated underground chapel of the Cathedral is a big attraction. On Dec 03, 2006 The Bible Tower of 260 feet height was dedicated to god which is considered to be the tallest church tower in Asia. I could not resist the temptation to shoot and I am presenting some memorable photographs.
Before returning to Coimbatore we decided to visit Harikuttan, my fathers cousin, who resides in Ayyanthole. In terms of age he is a contemporary of my brother Mottai (who is no more now). He was alone and his wife Visalakshi Ammal was away at Chennai. He was extremely apologetic about his wife being away. In the short span of 30 minutes we could discuss several wide ranging topics- the gregarious Harikuttan has the unique ability to switch topics one every minute.