Religious Buildings of Kamptee: A History of Inclusion Through Architecture

thenewsdirt
Jun 17
6 min read

Kamptee in Nagpur district is a historically important military town in India’s Vidarbha region. Founded as a British cantonment in 1821, Kamptee’s growth was shaped by successive waves of settlers, soldiers and traders of many faiths.

Its name itself (from “Camp-T”) reflects its origin as a T-shaped military outpost. Over two centuries, Kamptee has become home to Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and others, and its religious architecture mirrors this diversity.

As one observer notes, “Kamptee’s religious architecture reflects the diverse communities that have called the town home throughout its history”. From the Gothic churches of the colonial era to ancient temples and modern Buddhist shrines, Kamptee’s places of worship tell a story of communal inclusion and coexistence.

Hindu and Jain Temples

Kamptee’s Hindu temples range from centuries-old shrines to mid-20th-century structures.

Notable among these is the Ram Mandir, erected in the 19th century by the father of P. Damodar Naidu (a prominent local resident).

This temple, dedicated to Lord Rama, features traditional North Indian temple architecture with a sanctum, pillared halls and a peaked shikhara (spire).

Nearby is the Jagdish Swami Mandir (dedicated to Lord Shiva) in the Juni Oli locality, also founded in the 19th or early 20th century. Both temples have long served Kamptee’s Hindu community and are centres for festivals like Ram Navami and Maha Shivratri.

Equally ancient is a Jain temple in Lala Oli, part of Kamptee’s Old City. Local lore and architectural study date this Jain mandir to roughly a thousand years ago.

Its exterior walls are covered with finely carved reliefs depicting scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, unusual for a Jain shrine.

The temple’s style suggests several phases of construction: an early stone sanctuary over 1,000 years old, with later additions (notably the shikhara) around 300 years ago.

In the 18th century, the Maratha Bhosale rulers of Nagpur patronised the temple’s renovation. During recent restoration work, caretakers uncovered hidden chambers under the floor, including a secret cellar where Jain idol images had been concealed for safety. These finds underline the temple’s long heritage.

Today, both Hindu and Jain temples remain active places of worship, frequented by pilgrims from Nagpur and across Vidarbha.

Annual festivals and processions celebrate deities (Ram and Shiva) and Jain Tirthankaras, highlighting Kamptee’s plural religious fabric.

Mosques, Churches and a Sikh Gurdwara

The Islamic heritage of Kamptee is expressed in its many mosques and dargahs. The town boasts nearly 40 functioning mosques of various sizes.

Among the oldest is the Badi Masjid (literally “Big Mosque”), built around 130 years ago. This mosque, featuring a large prayer hall and twin minarets, often serves as the site of major congregational prayers.

Equally venerable is the Kolsatal Mosque (named for its location in a low-lying “lake area”), which dates to about a century ago. Its style is simpler, a single-domed brick structure, but it too reflects late 19th-century architecture.

In the Husainabad quarter, the Shia community maintains the Haidry Jama Masjid and the Maula Ali Dargah, both over 130 years old. The Jama Masjid’s courtyard and the adjoining enclosed dargah (tomb) of Hazrat Maula Ali are sites of mourning ceremonies during Muharram, uniting Kamptee’s Shia Muslims.

For Christians, Kamptee’s most notable buildings are its two colonial-era churches. The Immaculate Conception Church (c.1820), often called the Church of Our Lady of Grace, was built by the Society of St. Francis de Sales to serve the Catholic soldiers and civilians. Located within the cantonment, this Gothic-style church (pictured below) is thought to be the oldest church in Central India.

It has pointed arches, stained-glass windows and a vaulted roof typical of 19th-century European ecclesiastical design. The church was consecrated in 1858 by Bishop Theophilus Neyret (whose tomb lies under the altar).

Immaculate Conception Church (built 1820) in Kamptee. This Gothic-style church is one of the oldest in Central India.

Another is the Christ Church, an Anglican edifice founded in 1828 (completed by 1832). Designed by Lt. Douglas of the Madras Engineers (for £43,679), Christ Church was originally built to hold 800 worshippers.

Its exterior walls and buttresses (added after settlement in the soft soil) exemplify colonial church construction. Inside is a lofty wooden ceiling (now damaged by termites) and a high stone altar.

Architecturally, it’s imposing. An 1874 account notes its 40-foot octagonal spire and “cathedral glass” windows. Marble plaques commemorate British officers who served in Kamptee. Today, Christ Church stands as a fragile heritage monument.

It is undergoing community-led restoration as it nears its 200th anniversary. Noel Joseph, treasurer of the church, observes, “We’ve survived 197 years purely through community donations. There has never been any support from the government or our parent body in Nagpur”.

The chapel and its adjacent British-era cemetery (with 30+ officer graves) are now preserved by local congregants, symbolising Kamptee’s colonial Christian legacy.

Sikhs are a small minority in Kamptee (under 1% of the population), but they too have a place of worship. The main Sikh shrine associated with the area is the Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha on Kamptee Road in Nagpur (just south of town).

Established by the local Sikh community, it often organises large events for festivals like Guru Nanak Jayanti. During one recent celebration at Kasturchand Park, organisers from this Gurudwara led prayers and langar (community meal) for some 100,000 devotees. (Within the cantonment, Sikh servicemen have also used chapel-like spaces on the military base for prayer.)

The presence of a gurudwara and Sikh congregation adds to Kamptee’s interfaith landscape, even if the principal shrine lies technically outside the municipal limits.

Buddhist Temple and Contemporary Landscape

Modern Kamptee’s most striking religious edifice is the International Dragon Palace Temple, a Buddhist vihar built in 1999. This ornate temple was funded by the Ogawa Society of Japan (named after benefactress Mother Noriko Ogawa) and local sponsors.

Often called the Lotus Temple of Nagpur, it is dedicated to the Sakyamuni Buddha and stands on a 50-acre campus.

Constructed from imported white marble with sweeping domes and pagoda-style roofs, the Dragon Palace’s design blends Japanese and Indian Buddhist motifs. At its pinnacle is a huge carved sandalwood statue of Buddha, reputedly the largest of its kind in the world. The temple’s interior houses meditation halls and shrines with gold-plated imagery.

Its clean, modern lines and landscaped gardens have won international architectural awards.

As a pilgrimage centre, Dragon Palace is unprecedented in Vidarbha.

An annual festival draws tens of thousands: the 25th anniversary in November 2024 was marked by a two-day Dhammotsav with Buddhist leaders and visitors from 40 countries. Internally, it welcomes roughly a million worshippers and tourists each year.

Sulekha Kumbhare, chair of the Ogawa Society, envisioned the temple as a symbol of Indo-Japanese friendship and world peace. In Kamptee’s religious tapestry, the Dragon Palace underscores the town’s openness to new traditions. Buddhists from Nagpur and distant regions come here for meditation retreats and prayers.

Beyond major monuments, Kamptee has other shrines. Small temples to regional folk deities, roadside shrines, and prayer rooms for various communities can be found scattered across town. The Brahma Kumaris have a centre named “Ram Mandir” (their local meditation hall), and there are unassuming Hindu shrines like the Aadasa Ganpati temple, noted by residents.

While there is no significant Parsi or Jewish structure, even the smallest groups (e.g. Bahá’ís or others) can often find a multi-faith hall or rent space for worship.

Collectively, these buildings, from a millennia-old Jain mandir to a gleaming 21st-century Buddhist temple, convey Kamptee’s ethos of inclusion.

In daily life, the roles of these structures vary: temples and mosques are focal points on festival days, churches hold weekly services and community events, the Gurudwara offers free meals (langar) and religious classes, and the Dragon Palace is open year-round for meditation and cultural programmes.

All are generally respected and co-exist peacefully; for instance, municipal events in Kamptee often involve leaders from different religions. The very fact that nearly every faith group in Kamptee maintains a permanent house of worship indicates the town’s plural character.

Throughout all eras, Mughal times, Maratha rule, the British period, and the present, Kamptee’s architecture has been shaped by its inhabitants.

Colonial-era regulations ensured space for churches, mosques and temples in the cantonment.

Indigenous builders and donors have added Hindu and Jain temples, while in the last generation, new communities (Buddhists, modern Hindus, etc.) have added their shrines.

This layering of construction over time has produced a townscape where a Gothic spire can stand next to a domed mandir or a pagoda-roofed vihar.

Kamptee’s physical religious buildings, temples, mosques, churches, gurdwaras, a vihar, and more, together illustrate its history of communal inclusion and cultural synthesis.