Around 5km away from the city center, St Philomena church is one of the major tourist attractions in Mysore. The church is dedicated to Philomena, a third century saint from Greece. It is one of the tallest churches in India alluring Indian as well as International visitors.
Initially, around 1840, it was a small church put-up on a land given by Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. Later, in 1933 Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV built the new larger church. The structure of the church was designed by a French architect and was later redesigned under the supervision of Rene Feuga’s, Mysore Bishop.
St. Philomena Church in Mysore boasts of striking Gothic structure which is similar to that of St. Cathedral in New York and Gothic church Cologne Cathedral in Germany. The main attraction of the church is its twin towers, which stand at a height up to 175 ft.
Getting inside the church, the statues of St. Philomena and Holy Christ are placed on the marble altar in the sanctum, the holiest place. The hall is designed in the shape of cross where the long part of cross is nave (the central part of church building), which is tall and large prayer hall with a seating capacity of 800 people. The other two arms of the cross form the transepts and the fourth forms the altar.
There are stained glass windows, which are made in France, above the sanctum which represents the scenes from the life of Jesus Christ, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, the resurrection and the Ascension of Christ.
There is a small green garden in front of the church. The holy mass is daily done in Kannada, Tamil and English. The annual celebration of St. Philomena church in Mysore takes place on 11th August. The church also runs an orphanage. St. Philomena in Mysore is open for all kinds of visitors from 5 am to 6:30pm.
