Information on Church of St. Thomas (Goa) - History & Architecture

Church of St Thomas is located in Aldona, Bardez in the Indian territory of Goa. The church is built on a high plateau on the banks of River Mapusa. It is a Chatholic Church dedicated to Saint Thomas the Apostle. The church of Saint Thomas is the seventh parish of Bardez built by the Franciscans and is the third oldest Church in the Archdiocese of Bombay.

Church of St. Thomas Religious Significance

The Church is considered as one of the most sacred churches in Goa and is basically meant for God lovers and people searching for miracles and experiences with God. This Church is also greatly associated with its own History. Despite being a Christian church people of all religions can visit the sacred sanctorum. The most important event celebrated in the church is a feast in the third Sunday after Easter. Another event celebrated is the day of Dia Dos Ladroes in June. Christmas and Easter is the most important festivated celebrated. The church is open throughout the year from 8 am till 10 am in the morning. It just requires around an hour to tour the church.

Church of St. Thomas Mythology

The church was built in order to spread Christian faith during the invasion from the west. The day of Dia Dos Ladroes was celebrated in order to remember the bravery of the women of the Aldona village. These women caught sight of robbers trying to rob the church. In order to make people alert they rung the church bell and woke everyone up. In the mean time these women attacked the robbers with agricultural tools after which they ran away for life. So, in order to honour the valour of these women the special occasion is celebrated during the month of June every year. An interesting event took place at the beginning of this event. The robbers while crossing the river was warned by a small boy not to rob the church but these robbers had just ignored and proceeded. Later when they were robbing the ornaments from the statues they noticed that the small boy who had appeared earlier was same as the statue St Thomas. This instilled fear and made them fled away.

Church of St. Thomas Historical Significance

The building of the church is associated with the establishments of Christian's churches by Bishops from Persia in 6th century and 10th century. The church of St Thomas was established in 1569 AD at Coimavaddo by Portuguese missionaries. The Church of St Thomas standing today in Goa is the renovated form of the original church that was built in 1898 AD. The original structure was made up of mud and was formed by the Franciscans. The presiding structure was built in 1610 AD.

Church of St. Thomas Architectural Significance

The Church is a massive white structure built in European Gothic architectural style. The structure comprises of sacristy and a parochial house. A tower is also present on the left side of the church along with vestibules, pillars and pilasters in the front. The main entrance is accompanied by a huge gate accompanied by smaller others in the western side. The statue of Saint Thomas resides in the altar of the church in an elevated platform along with seats for higher dignitaries and also for public in front separately for men and women.

The Church consists of grand statues decorated with precious jewels and ornaments. There are a number of chapels with and without chaplains. A bell is installed in the backyard of the church to signal the timing of rituals, during the death of a member of the church or to inform any bad messages.