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 Flying feet
race after speeding buses, hungry hordes throng eating houses, big and small, weary office-goers and burdened school children wend their ways home amidst incessant traffic. In the midst of the hustle and bustle there nestles a little nook of peace.
The Gnana Prakasha Deva Matha Church is all of 102 years old. It sits calmly in a little side-lane off the busy Valluvar Kottam High Road, just opposite the busy Sangeetha Restaurant.
The little room is bare of furniture. Attention is inevitably drawn to the far wall, filled with a number of idols. A plaque outside proudly proclaims the date of the construction - 1898.
The church is part of the diocese of the St.Theresa's Church at Gemini. Services are held infrequently. It has no resident pastor of its own. Attention is drawn to it only at the time of the annual festival in September and the flag-raising ceremony and procession which are part of it.
But all the year round, devotees visit the tiny shrine. They come in trickles. But few forget their visits.
Just opposite is the Sri Raghavendra Lodge, frequented by relatives of patients admitted to the nearby Apollo and Shankara Netralaya Hospitals. Without regard to religion and caste, they drop in at the Gnana Prakasha Deva Matha Church to make their petitions.
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Often, one sees a man or woman bent in prayer, oblivious of the surroundings. Sometimes tears run down their faces as their lips move in silent plea. For the church has a reputation. It is rare that prayers relating to health made within its walls go unanswered, say office-bearers.
The name plate of the church, pictures adorning the walls, even a crucifix, all bear testimony to the "power" of the church. They are donations from grateful devotees. They come from far and near.
One man who came to Chennai with fading vision and little hope of recovery was treated successfully at Shankara
Netralaya. A childless couple from Madurai who came to Chennai for treatment prayed regularly at the shrine, and were blessed with the offspring they craved, said office bearers, citing a few examples of answered prayers.
But "power" is not all that makes the Gnana Prakasa Deva Matha church noteworthy. It is cared for by residents of the narrow street, and not all of them are Christians. In fact, the church is probably the only one which has non-Christians on its committee, say office bearers. The devotees, creed notwithstanding, keep it scrupulously clean.
There are no fresh flowers, no smell of incense, and only a few stubs of wax candles stand testimony to prayers offered up before the shrine at most times. You come with a heart troubled by a million cares and problems. You don't even know what to pray for, or how to pray. But the troubles recede within the dim interior, and you come away with a sense of peace.
Susan Philip
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