THE CITY OF Indore has a population of about 3.1 to 3.5 million. Of these, about 17750 are Roman Catholics. Indore is a diocese in the Ecclesiastical province of Bhopal. The diocese was established in 1952, having formerly been Mission Sui Iuris of Indore established in 1931. There are well over 12 Catholic churches in Indore.

 

It so happens that the hotel where we are staying in Indore (in December 2025) is a few hundred yards away from the Kanchanbagh Roman Catholic cemetery, which we took a look at today.

 

The older graves are raised mounds not too dissimilar from Sephardic gravestones. However, each grave is surmounted by a cross. What interested me was that on many graves there were fresh flowers. There is nothing surprising about this except that many of the flowers are ‘malas’ (garlands) such as are commonly found draped around Hindu effigies and shrines.

 

At the far end of the cemetery there is a large hall in which funeral masses are held. There is a bas-relief depicting the Last Supper at the altar within the hall.

 

On one side of the hall, there are the newer graves. These consist of flat rectangular slabs on which names are listed. These are the names and dates of the people buried beneath a slab. The idea is that several people will be interred beneath each slab, and their names recorded on it. No doubt, the new system is designed to make efficient use of the burial ground. I wondered about this because there seemed to be plenty of unused land in the graveyard.

 

I am pleased that we entered the cemetery because seeing it made me become aware of the surprisingly large number of Roman Catholics in Indore.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF MY READERS

I HOPE THAT 2026 WILL BRING YOU CONTENTMENT, GOOD HEALTH  AND PROSPERITY