Brief History of Bandlines Parish

Bandlines is the residential Quarters of musicians of the then Nizam’s Symphony Orchestra and the Brass Band, which was also known as the Calvary Band. The two orchestras mostly comprised of Tamil speaking Catholics, who yearned for a place of worship in the locality, finding it difficult going all the way to St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Gunfoundry to satisfy all their spiritual needs. Seeing their needs and inspired by a deep religious fervor, Lt. Col. Nobel of the Hyderabad State Forces, was instrumental in building a modest Chapel in 1865, with the co-operation and financial contributions from the Catholic community. The Chapel was named after Our Lady of Lourdes and adorned by the Statue of Our Lady - a rare beauty said to have been brought from Paris.

The first renovation of the Chapel and construction of a vestry along with a Compound Wall was completed in 1938 after obtaining the necessary permissions from the Hyderabad Cantonment Authorities. As the years passed by the tiled-roof of the Chapel began to give way and was leaking profusely. Thus in 1958 with the zealous efforts of the young men, support of elders and financial contribution from Dr. C.J. Morris, the roof of the Chapel was replaced with asbestos sheets. The faith of the community was so fervent that almost the entire community gathered for the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary. Initially Mass was celebrated only once a month, but when Fr. Bandanadam Julian (1967-1971) took charge of the Cathedral, he started celebrating Mass every week, i.e. on every Saturday. The good tradition was continued by all the subsequent Parish Priests. Eventually Fr. Ignatius, the Rector of St. Joseph’s Minor Seminary, Gunfoundry (the Seminary is now shifted to Mornington Road, Trimulgherry) was given charge of the community and he started celebrating three Masses a week. By now the Chapel was too small for its Congregation and so an extension was urgently needed. The work was undertaken by Fr. Julian Studden, the then Parish Priest of St. Joseph’s Cathedral and was completed and inaugurated on 02nd October, 1985 by Archbishop Samineni Arulappa.

On 15th August, 1994, a memorable day for the community, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Band Lines, was declared an independent Parish with Fr. Solomon Joseph as its first Parish Priest. His residence was to be at the Pastoral Centre, Gunfoundry and continued to be so for the subsequent Parish Priests till the end of 2014. The Community, living in close vicinity of the Church, time and again expressed their difficulties approaching their Parish Priests staying far away from the Church to meet in person for any urgent spiritual, sacramental needs of the community. Fr. Madanu Lourdu Vijay Kumar, the then Parish Priest felt the urgent need for a Presbytery and a Parish Office to accommodate the Parish Priest in order to cater to the growing spiritual needs of the Parishioners living in and around the Church, took initiatives and completed the construction of Presbytery and a Parish Office. Presbytery-cum- Parish Office constructed adjacent to the Church is named after Immaculate Mary as “Nirmala Parsonage” and it was inaugurated and blessed by Archbishop Thumma Bala in 2014. Fr. Madanu Lourdu Vijay Kumar also celebrated Sesquicentenial 150 years Jubilee of the Our Lady of Lourdes Church on 11th February, 2015 and Archbishop Thumma Bala celebrated the Solemn High Mass on this occasion.

Bandlines - Well Known For The “Passion Play” : It is one of the famous evangelical works of the community in the twin-cities. The sacred play depicting the redemptive works, sufferings and death of Jesus is being enacted since the year 1910 uninterruptedly. It was started on account of a vow taken by Fr. Peggani, the then Parish Priest of the Cathedral, to enact the Passion Play every year, moved by the sufferings of the people everywhere in the City, with supplications to God to save the people from the scourge of a dreadful plague which had taken the lives of hundreds of people in early 1900, to end the suffering. His prayers were answered and the legacy is continued by young generation for the last 108 years till date with the same enthusiasm, trust and faith in God. When the play was put up for the first time in 1910, the Holy Father presented a very unique life-size portable Statue of the crucified Lord as a token of his appreciation, which is enshrined in a Prayer Room specially dedicated in commemoration of the Centenary celebrations of the PASSION PLAY (1910-2009).