St. Mark's Church, Mercara

St. Mark's Church
St. Mark's Church, Mercara
12°25′13″N 75°44′21″E / 12.4203661°N 75.7392854°E / 12.4203661; 75.7392854Coordinates: 12°25′13″N 75°44′21″E / 12.4203661°N 75.7392854°E / 12.4203661; 75.7392854
Location	Mercara Fort, Coorg
Country	India
Denomination	Anglican Church of England
Architecture
Style	Gothic
Completed	29 April 1859
Closed	1947
Specifications
Length	48 ft.
Width	24 ft.
Administration
Diocese	Diocese of Madras

The St. Mark's Church, is located within the Mercara Fort, Coorg, India and was raised in 1859, by the officers and men of the East India Company. The church building was funded by the Government of Madras, and placed under the Church of England in India, Diocese of Madras. The Church was closed after Indian independence, and taken over by the Government of Karnataka in 1971. The building now houses the Madikeri Fort Museum, managed by the Karnataka State Archaeological Department.

Coorg had been an independent Hindu Kingdom for many centuries, until the invasion of Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan in 1765, resulting in large scale devastation, forcible conversion to Islam and incarceration of thousands of Kodava people at Seringapatam. Following the defeat of Tippu Sultan in the Third Anglo–Mysore War (1789–92), Coorg became independent again, under the suzerainty of the British. In 1834, the Coorg Kingdom was annexed by the British, and the last Raja Chikka Virarajendra was pensioned off on an annual privy pension of British £12,000 and banished to Kashi. Following annexation, a regiment of the Madras Army and British civil servants were stationed in Coorg.

The first church services for the officers and men at the Coorg Station were conducted in the Regimental Mess of the Madras Army. The church records start in 1842, where the chaplain stationed at the Mangalore military station made official visits to Coorg to conduct church services in the dry seasons. In 1850, an average of 90 people were found attending these services (p.196).

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