An architectural marvel - Dehigahapitiya church

by Mahil Wijesinghe

The verdant fields, the unusually thin and tall trees and the undulating Madola mountains make Dehigahapitiya the kind of village many travellers would romantically and affectionately dream of. Dehigahapitiya is serene but a highly urbanized village with concrete houses, nestling 2 km away from Avissawella town on the A4 highway, at the entrance to the Sabaragamuwa Province.

As you approach the village of Dehigahapitiya, you will get a glimpse of a Gothic styled granite church through the greenery, situated on a small hillock along the A4 highway.

This charming religious monument has now been dwarfed by the constructions around it. Popularly known as the Dehigahapitiya church, it still stands proud on its mount, as it gloriously did, when it was originally built 74 years ago and dedicated as St. Theresa's church.

From its very inception, Dehigahapitiya St. Theresa's Church started a missionary school. The first school was built at Ambagahawatta in the neighbouring village and later it was shifted to Dehigahawatta to the present site to build a chapel and the mission house.

In the village I met an elderly person, Philip Rajapakse, 75 years of age, who lives near the church, and who narrated the history of the Dehigahapitiya church. From his childhood he was associated with the church and was educated in the Roman Catholic Mixed School.

According to his narration of the history, Rev. Father Luis Malpinnanu started to build this magnificent edifice in 1931 and completed the work in 1933.

After Father Malpinnanu, there were several prolific priests who occupied the church. Father Ruban Perera occupied the church for two terms from 1962 to 1967 and again from 1998 to 2004.

This architectural masterpiece was designed in Italian Gothic style. There are several granite churches built in this similar style situated in places like Balangoda and Wahakotte. The interior of the church is really marvellous.

The magnificent arch columns stand majestically from the bottom to roof, inlaid with beautiful mouldings. The wooden choir loft and the furniture of the church out of rare teak and mahogany, elaborately carved and used generously in the church.

The statue of St Theresa is placed on the right side of the pulpit, and there are small visual images with verses around the walls illustrating the life of Jesus Christ. The colourful windows around the church give light and add a glowing, and charming beauty to the interior of the church.

The colourful and huge figure of Jesus Christ erected overlooking the front view of the church gives a serene atmosphere to the environ.

So too the artificial cave created in front of the church with the figure of St. Theresa kept inside. During the Christmas festival period thousands of bulbs lighten up the area to give it that festive mood.

But what stands out is the distinctive architecture of the church in the Italian Gothic style, which is a major attraction for tourists who visit the church regularly to marvel on this architectural masterpiece.

Rev. Father Sanjiva Peiris, a young and zealous priest who is presently at the helm of the church, has dedicated his life to promote peace and spiritual well-being among the different communities in the area, and through all the changes St. Theresa's church of Dehigahapitiya has stood sentinel, solid as the rock that it has been built upon.

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