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Cathedral of Christ the King, Kurunegala

Coordinates: 7°29′11.0″N 80°22′04.0″E / 7.486389°N 80.367778°E / 7.486389; 80.367778
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Cathedral of Christ the King
Religion
AffiliationAnglican, Church of Ceylon
Year consecrated1956
StatusActive
Location
LocationKurunegala, Sri Lanka
Geographic coordinates7°29′11.0″N 80°22′04.0″E / 7.486389°N 80.367778°E / 7.486389; 80.367778
Architecture
Architect(s)Wilson Peiris
TypeChurch
Groundbreaking1950[1]
Completed1960
Construction costRs 500,000

Cathedral of Christ the King[2] is located on Kandy Road, Kurunegala, Sri Lanka. It is the primary Anglican cathedral of the Diocese of Kurunegala, affiliated to the Church of Ceylon.

The construction of the church (estimated at a cost of Rs 500,000) was largely funded by Most Rev. Lakdasa De Mel, the first Bishop of Kurunegala, along with other members of the De Mel family.[3] The construction of the church commenced on 21 December 1950 (the feast of St. Thomas), upon a 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres) site,[4] at the base of Ethagala (Elephant Rock). The chapel of the Blessed Virgin and St. Thomas the Apostle were consecrated in 1956,[5] the ceremony was presided over by Rev. Aurobindo Nath Mukherjee, Metropolitan of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon. The nave, the font, the pulpit and the lectern were consecrated in 1960. The architecture, especially the nave and roof is a combination of Polonnaruwa and Kandy era architecture,[6] reflecting the brick vaulted image houses (Polonnaruwa) and the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Kandy).[5] The cathedral is constructed out of cement and reinforced concrete. The central tower is 33 metres (108 ft) high and crowned by a bronze cross. The brass lamps and the communion rails depict art motifs and lacquer work of Kandyan tradition.[5] The 'Cross of Anuradhapura' is also replicated in brass. The flags of the ‘Disavas’ (the traditional districts), which constituted the Diocese of Kurunegala, have been reproduced by Ena de Silva and are displayed on an interior wall of the cathedral.[5] The modern painting, by Nalini Marcia Jayasuriya, forms the backdrop to the Lady Chapel[5][7] and the fresco of Christ the King was painted by George Keyt.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Wingate, Andrew; Ward, Kevin; Pemberton, Carrie; Sitshebo, Wilson, eds. (1998). Anglicanism: A Global Communion. New York: Church Publishing, Inc. p. 339. ISBN 0898697174.
  2. ^ "Cathedral Church of Christ the King". Diocese of Kurunegala - Church of Ceylon (Anglican). Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  3. ^ "History of Kurunegala Diocese". Diocese of Kurunegala. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  4. ^ Abayasekera, Rev. Jeffrey (27 October 2002). "Bishop Lakdasa De Mel : Called for Justice and Uplift of Poor". The Sunday Observer. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e Cooray, Nilan (27 August 2011). "Quarterly Tours – No. 19" (PDF). National Trust of Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  6. ^ Silva, Dhananjani (28 September 2014). "Kurunegala, a Regal City". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  7. ^ Gunawardena, Charles A. (2005). Encyclopedia of Sri Lanka. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 201. ISBN 9781932705485.
  8. ^ "Sri Lankan Christian Art". The Serendib Gallery. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
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