Most people acquainted with historic sites in Mumbai know that St. Peter’s Church in Bandra is a heritage structure.
While the Church continues to leave me awestruck with the peace & serenity one feels inside the beautiful structure, one place I’ve always loved is the tiny cemetery which precedes the main Church building.
Most of the headstones on the graves are elaborately done up in marble and date back to the late 1800s & early 1900s.
Some of them have beautiful 3D statues of Jesus or images of angels & flowers.
(click to enlarge)
While some of them are personalized. Liked this grave, the anchor proudly proclaiming the remains of a sea-farer.
Or this tear jerker - the image of a child, with the inscription “Jesus called a little child” engraved at the bottom.
On inscriptions or epitaphs though, it’s interesting to see what famous people choose to have on their headstones, a last word perhaps! Like William Shakespeare’s inscription, which is infamous for it’s declaration:
Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.
or Bette Davis’
She did it the hard way.
Frank Sinatra’s
The Best is yet to come.
Wyatt Earp’s
…that nothing’s so sacred as honor and nothing’s so loyal as love
& Ralph Waldo Emerson’s
The passive master lent his hand,
To the vast Soul which o’er him planned.
I had once undertaken an exercise, where we all thought of what we’d want written on our headstones - how we’d like to be remembered perhaps. I think it’s a good thing to do, it puts life in perspective, I think - to understand that we are all but mortal & will have to pass on at some time, sooner or later. That material things are not really important - but these things are - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control.
So what would I like on my headstone? Perhaps this:
Finally I come to Thee,
to hear these words from Thy lips,
‘Well Done, Thou Good And Faithful Servant’
May it be.
At the end of the day, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we all shall go. May our lives on earth bring peace & happiness to all we touch for our days are all numbered.
And no, please do not mistake this post for me being grieved. I am very much blessed by God.
Tags: Angels, Bandra, Cemetery, Death, Epitaphs, Famous-Epitaphs, Headstones, Heritage-Structures, India, Inscriptions, Jesus, Life, Mumbai, St-Peters-Church, Tombstones
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June 26th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
OK. M d 1st 1 2 post a comment on dis post. (Live feed Magic)
I’ve never been to St. Peter’s Church. (Infact, never been to Mumbai.
). But after this post, I’m eagerly waiting for a vacation so that I can be there. U’ll show me around?
June 26th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Wow… Looks great! Had been to Mumbai couple of times, but never been here! ll make sure i go thr the nxt time!
June 26th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
hmm… does that serve as a better landmark to find the hidden road to your place? All the previous landmarks have made me circle Bandra more often than any place would warrant.
June 26th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
le… I thought your epitaph would read “(Arnold style but with a more feminine voice) I’ll be back !”
hmmmmm… haven’t been to Bombay since a looong time, dunno why, But I’m afraid of the pace of that city. Anyways, I’ll try and visit the church next time I’ll be there but I’ll only visit the cemetery in broad daylight.
June 27th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
ummm…….. u took me into time warp…. i remember visitingt hsi huge graveyard at park Street, Kolkata.. and it gave me the creeps!! And the headstones have never ceased to wonder me… I personally haven’t been to St Peter though… been past it so many times!! guilty!!
as for the epitaph, err….. frankly I dunno… nad left to my frnds they r quite likely to put up “And he died a confused man!!”
June 28th, 2007 at 7:30 am
Ooh.. graveyards give me a chill, for some reason. But I must admit, the carvings are really excellent!
June 28th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Awesome pics… I’ve never been thr but now i think i will visit the church very soon….
June 28th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
@ Naresh & everyone who wants to visit: It is only a small patch, but pretty.
@ Peeyush: Hidden road?? Is that the excuse I gave you when you asked for directions to my house?? lol!! “Sorry I can’t tell you how to get here, the road is … hidden”
@ Gaurav D:
@ the Arnie ref!
@ Sam: Headstones make me wonder too! For what it’s worth, hope you don’t die confused but happy
@ Dev: Absoluitely!
@ Anshul: Thx. Though as I said to Naresh, it’s just really a small patch.
June 28th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
oh!! am always happy…. it’s my nature to be so…
cheerio