240-year-old Armenian church to host youth conference tomorrow

Young believers of the orthodox organisation called Mar Gregorios Orthodox Christian Students Movement will hold a day-long conference on Sunday for the first time.

The theme will be ‘Keep your Creator in mind while you are young’. There will be sessions and workshops to address the youngsters aimed at inculcating the value of prayer in their lives. Stress will also be made on ensuring respect for elders in the community.

The meet will be held at the historic St Peter’s Church of the Armenian (Armenian Church), established around 1773, in Ararat Building on Nagindas Master Road near the Bombay Stock Exchange.

This church was built by the Armenians who migrated to India for trade and business.
Legend has it that the Armenian Church in Mumbai was established by relatives of Queen Mariam, one of the Queens of the Mughal emperor Akbar. Queen Mariam was an Armenian and her relatives initially resided in Surat. They later shifted to Mumbai.

The Armenian Church in Mumbai was established at the initiative of the Eknan family, Rosy Eknan being its last member who used to live in the apartment attached to the church building. She was among the last of the three Armenians surviving in Mumbai, others being the late Nuvart Mehta and Jezabel Joshi, mother of actress Tulip Joshi.

Since 1998, a small congregation of faithfuls belonging to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church pray in this church every Sunday.