Kottayam: Over a century old bells of Athirampuzha St Mary's forane church, one of the oldest churches in Kerala, have switched to automatic mode. Out of three church bells which were imported from Germany in 1905, two smaller ones have been automated.
The 5-feet tall main bell, the biggest of them all weighing approximately 400 kg, will continue to be tolled manually using thick ropes.

All these years sextons would scale the stairs leading up to the bell tower situated at 85 ft high from the ground floor of the church to ring the bells. Now everything is controlled by a drive unit installed near the bells and a control unit set up on the ground floor. The controller decides which bell to be tolled. The timing of bells has been scheduled for 22 modes; prayer, funeral, offering and other rites and rituals.

“We decided to retain the main bell as such as devotees have an offering to ring the bell during the feasts. It is usually done by three or four people together,”said church trustee KM Chacko Kaithakkary. The church has two main feasts; the feast of St Mary and the feast of St Sebastian. The feast of St Sebastian is held from January 19 to February 1. The principal festal week is from January 19 to 26. On January 24, a festive procession is held and the huge bell is tolled till the procession reaches the church.

As per historical records, the bells were purchased at a cost of  2,167 rupees, 26 chakras and 4 kaashu. Each bell has been engraved with names; St Michael, St Sebastian and St Maria. Nihal Felix, of Madonna Electronics which automated the bells said that any number of modes can be scheduled. “Funeral tolls depending on age of deceased have also been automated. One can select different ring for specific occasions from the display. The perfection is achieved by attaining the right balance between swing and displacement,” said Nihal.

Fine-tuning process of automated bells will go on, until the desired objective is met, he said. In addition to pre-scheduled mode, the system can also be operated manually. The Church was blessed on August 15, 835 AD. It was elevated to the status of a forane in 1929.