The Church of Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs (Regina Martyrum Igreja), is significant in its own right, but the Cristo Rei (Christ the King) that flanks the church has its own story of note. The edifice, built in 1937, is fascinatingly elaborate and detailed in its design.
The Cristo Rei, or Christ the King, on the parish property of Assolna, stands tall with a regal bearing, a one-of-its-kind monument in Goa.
As the story goes, this monument is near identical to the one near St Patrick's Cathedral in Shahrah-e-Iraq, Karachi, Pakistan. The Monument to Christ the King in Karachi began being built in 1927 and was dedicated in 1931.
Fr Vincent Gimenez, SJ, spearheaded the project of the Monument to Christ the King, aided by a Goan Catholics who had settled in the area.
It was perhaps serendipity that Domingo Gaspar Sebastiao Silva Lobo, a Goan chief steward on board the British Indian Steam Navigation ships had Karachi as one of his ports of call. In 1933, after a visit, he was inspired to recreate the splendour of this design in his native village of Assolna.
He was enthused by the fact that M X Andrade, a Goan, was involved in designing the Karachi structure. Silva Lobo invested an enormous amount of time and money in the construction of the Cristo Rei, even consulting MX Andrade about the process.
Though similar in their basic structure, the Cristo Rei sees an addition to the original design of the Monument to Christ the King in Karachi.
This is the inclusion of the four evangelists of the New Testament: St Mark with a winged lion, St Matthew with a winged angel, St Luke with an ox or a bull and St John with an eagle.
The Cristo Rei, however, is missing the Karachi monument’s crypt which holds a replica of the body of St Francis Xavier.
The Cristo Rei, however, is missing the Karachi monument’s crypt which holds a replica of the body of St Francis Xavier.
During the drive to restore the Monument to Christ the King in Karachi, which began in 2011, the Cristo Rei was researched by the Menin Rodrigues, the director of the restoration project, who commented on the similarity between the two structures.
Assolna’s Cristo Rei has Christ depicted with his arms raised, with two angels on either side, one as a herald and the other a dispenser of justice. As you go lower, there is a magnificent motif of the Holy Spirit on the central pillar.
Bordering the Holy Spirit are two intricately carved urns and a coat of arms. A little lower you have cherubs, below which there used to be a representation of a tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament carved into marble.
Every year the solemnity of Christ the King is celebrated here with much pomp and grandeur.
This labour of love and testament to the wonder of high-calibre design remains a heritage monument in Assolna, Goa, that must be experienced by all visitors.