Hallowed halls of history: A look at the evolution of Bengaluru’s St. Mark’s Cathedral Premium

It all began with an Irish Bishop named William Bedell who travelled to Venice in the early 1600s as the chaplain of the British Ambassador in Venice, says historian Sunil Pichamuthu, who conducted the first-ever ‘church walk’ at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Bengaluru. 

The St. Mark’s Cathedral, an important landmark in Bengaluru, has an interesting connection with the grand St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, an architectural, historical and cultural marvel. A few interesting turns of events resulted in both the monuments sharing the same name.  

It all began with an Irish Bishop named William Bedell who travelled to Venice in the early 1600s as the chaplain of the British Ambassador in Venice, says historian Sunil Pichamuthu, who conducted the first-ever ‘church walk’ at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Bengaluru. 

After returning to Ireland, Bedell worked at the University of Dublin, where Richard Hall Kerr, who later became a chaplain at Madras (now Chennai), studied. A few years later Kerr reached Bombay in a bid to secure the job of chaplain. But unsuccessful at it, he tried to go back to London on a ship named Perseverance.  

But fate had other plans for him. Kerr fell sick. So, he got off the ship when it reached Madras. By the time he recovered, the ship had left. 

The reverend later became quite influential in the Madras presidency and established the St. Mark’s Church in Madras. He used to travel frequently to Mysore (now Mysuru), Malabar and often to Bangalore (now Bengaluru).

“It is surmised he rested here during his travels to recover, as it was the highest point in Bangalore at that time similar to St. Thomas Mount in Chennai where he had rested to recover from fever after disembarking from Perseverance,” Pichamuthu notes.  

Kerr passed away in April of 1808 due to a fever.  “Around the same time St. Mark’s Church was founded. The name of the church would have been in honour of Rev. Kerr probably,” Pichamuthu says.