Aurovedacharitable at 10:11, 29 November 2025

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{{Short description|Church in Uttar Pradesh, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2019}}

{{Infobox religious building
| name = Basilica of Our Lady of Graces
| religious_affiliation = [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]
| image = Front Facade of Basilica of Our Lady of Graces.jpg
| location = [[Sardhana]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]]
| coordinates = {{coord|display=title,inline}}
| map_type = India Uttar Pradesh#India
| status = [[Minor basilica]]
| patron = [[Our Lady of Graces]]
| groundbreaking = 1809
| completed = 1822
| materials = [[Marble]]
}}

The '''Basilica of Our Lady of Graces''' is a [[Roman Catholic]] church in [[Sardhana]], 19 km north-west of [[Meerut]], in the Indian state of [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=oXWAEjcG-FsC&q=sardhana+church&pg=PA20 | title = Tourism Marketing | isbn = 9788131731826 | last1 = Devashish | first1 = Dasgupta | year = 2011}}</ref>

==Overview==
[[File:The Church Basilica of Our Lady of Graces.JPG|left|thumb|View of the exterior]]
The Basilica of Our Lady of Graces, also known as ''Churches among the Churches'', is dedicated to the [[Virgin Mary]]. The church was built by [[Begum Samru]], a Muslim Nautch girl of 14 who married a European [[mercenary soldier]], [[Walter Reinhardt Sombre]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-08 |title=The Basilica of Our Lady of Graces in Sardhana, Uttar Pradesh |url=https://www.joinpaperplanes.com/the-basilica-of-our-lady-of-graces-in-sardhana-uttar-pradesh/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Paper Planes |language=en-US}}</ref> Samru converted to [[Roman Catholicism]] in 1781 and adopted the name Joanna Nobilis. She is regarded as the only Catholic ruler in India, and ruled the Principality of Sardhana in the 18th and 19th centuries.<ref>{{cite web |title= The Sardhana Project| url=http://www.sardhana.org.uk/}}</ref> The church is the largest in North India.<ref name="SardhanaBasilica">{{cite web|url=http://www.sardhana.org.uk/basilica.htm|title=Basilica of Our Lady of Graces (1)|publisher=sardhana.org.uk|accessdate=2014-06-06}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Side Profile of Basilica.jpg|thumb|Side profile of the basilica]]
[[Begum Samru]] inherited the Jagir of Sardhana after her husband's death in 1778.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-08 |title=The Basilica of Our Lady of Graces in Sardhana, Uttar Pradesh |url=https://www.joinpaperplanes.com/the-basilica-of-our-lady-of-graces-in-sardhana-uttar-pradesh/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Paper Planes |language=en-US}}</ref> Subsequently, she decided to construct a church at Sardhana, dedicated to the [[Virgin Mary]]. The construction of the church cost Rs. {{lakh|4}}, a huge amount in those days. Top masons were paid the equivalent of 25 p. per day, and the labourers in shells. Two huge lakes near the church are the result of the mud that was removed to supply the building material for the church. Two dates are often given for the beginning of the church - Mr. K. M. Munshi, the noted historian, gives the date as 1809. Many are inclined to follow this date because a Latin inscription over the main door of the church puts its dedication in 1822. The other date, given by Fr. Keegan in his study of the Begum, is 1820.<ref>{{cite web |title= The Church Basilica of Our Lady of Graces, Sardhana| url=http://sardhanachurch.org}}</ref>

Begum Samru requested the Pope to make Sardhana an independent circumscription. In 1834, [[Pope Gregory XVI]] established the Apostolic Vicariate of Sardhana from the Apostolic Vicariate of Tibet-Hindustan and appointed Bishop Julius Caesar Scotti as the Apostolic Vicar. The church was the cathedral of Sardhana. However, Scotti was the only vicar apostolic, and eventually, the Apostolic Vicariate of Sardhana was merged into the Apostolic Vicariate of Agra.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Leonard Fernando, G. Gispert-Sauch|title=Christianity in India: Two Thousand Years of Faith|date=2004|publisher=Penguin Books India|page=224|isbn=9780670057696|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7dgYjLCSa0wC|accessdate=25 May 2015}}</ref>

==Architecture==
The architect of the church was Antonio Reghellini, an Italian from the city of Vicenza. The church is based upon [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in [[Rome]] with a touch of [[Palladio]] and some Indian architectural influence. The altar and its surrounds are of marble set with coloured stones. Much of the rest of the interior is also in marble, and everything is of the very highest craftsmanship. It is illuminated from an octagon set in the dome, from which the sun streams in.<ref name="SardhanaBasilica"/>
<ref>Christian missions in north India, 1813–1913: a case study of ... - Page 74</ref>
[[File:Sardhana Basilica Jitendra.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Main altar of the basilica]]

Reghellini completed the church in 11 years. The church is noted for the use of semi-precious stone work, a [[Greek columns|Greek colonnaded]] veranda, an elevated altar with a stained glass dome and there are two spires and three Roman domes that add to the building's grandeur. Near the sanctuary is a majestic 18-feet-high edifice over the Begum's tomb. Carved by the Italian sculptor Adamo Tadolini and transported to Sardhana from [[Italy]] to [[Kolkata]] by ship and by boats and bullock carts from there, it depicts Begum Sumru on the throne, smoking a [[hookah]] with Europeans and Indians in audience. It depicts her with a scroll from [[Shah Alam II|Emperor Shah Alam II]] bestowing upon her the fiefdom of Sardhana after her husband's death. Also depicted are her
adopted son David Dyce Sombre and her [[Diwan (title)|diwan]], Rae Singh who was the great-grandfather of [[Motilal Nehru]].<ref name="indianexpress">{{cite news|title=A queen's magnificent church|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-queens-magnificent-church/996392/|newspaper=The Indian Express|date=3 September 2012}}</ref>

==Upgrade to Minor Basilica==
On 13 December 1961 [[Pope John XXIII]] decided to upgrade the church to the status of [[Minor Basilica]], a dignity that is bestowed rarely and only on churches that are both historically famous and beautiful.<ref name="tribuneindia">{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071111/spectrum/main5.htm|title=The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum|publisher=tribuneindia.com|accessdate=2014-06-06}}</ref> The church is only one of 23 minor basilicas in India and is the only minor basilica in [[North India]].<ref name="indianexpress" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Basilica of Our Lady of Graces}}
* [http://sardhanachurch.org/ Official website]

{{Basilicas in India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basilica of Our Lady of Graces}}

[[Category:Roman Catholic church buildings in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Basilica churches in India|Our Lady of Graces]]
[[Category:Franciscan church buildings in India]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Meerut district]]
[[Category:Baroque architecture in India]]
[[Category:Church buildings with domes]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic churches completed in 1822]]
[[Category:19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in India]]
[[Category:1822 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Monuments of National Importance in Uttar Pradesh]]

Basilica of Our Lady of Graces - Revision history

Aurovedacharitable at 10:11, 29 November 2025