Shettihalli Church & Doddaswami: A Floating Relic and Life’s Flowing Lessons

Sriranga VN
Jul 24, 2025
2 min read

Doddaswami....!!

Fr. Abbe Dubois was impressed by how the Sattehalli church had turned out. It was magnificent with French-Gothic architecture. A job well done he puffed himself up.....

Now the wise Reverend Father, popularly called Dodda Swami by the natives, bcoz he lived like a native, adopted their ways and style of living, thought about all this, as he stood in the holy altar to deliver the first sermon of conscrection of Holy Rosary church of Shettihalli.

The holy father spoke like a native, simply, and in vernacular, dedicating this church at Sattehalli as it was called at that time, with holy water and a simple poignant message of saving our souls ..

He was a wise man, the reverend Dodda Swami, aka Abbe Dubois, the French missionary who was instrumental in building the holy church. And since he wanted to serve the native hindus more, than to convert the natives to Christianity, he also dedicated a orphanage, a convent and a primary health center in the same church complex to the local community...

I could see Fr Dubois, aka Doddaswami delivering his first sermon in the newly conscreted church complex, standing in the holy pedestal, as hundreds of peoples from the local villages listened to him in rapt attention, as I stood on the Hemavathi river bed near the Shettihalli dilapidated, crumbing masonry pillars on my recent visit to the floating Shettihalli church.

It is a beautiful, haunting relic. The old walls of the church, with disintegrating masonry of the Gothic style, crumbling due to the assault of the Hemavathi river waters each monsoon, as the river gets flooded and the Church goes underwater except for the Spires which can be seen sticking out from the rampaging river waters.

Yes, the Shattehalli church as it was called earlier during its times, is a haunting, forgotten, forlorn and enchanting beauty.

You can visit it by travelling 20 km from Hassan and see the haunting relic, a ghost church which remains a broken monument in summer and a surreal chiasma during flooding monsoon season.

I stood on the banks of the Hemavathi river bed as it flowed peacefully, near the crucible pillars of the long forgotten church, on my recent visit to this beautifull place and clearly saw in my mind eye, the passage of time, history and circumstances, understanding that everything in this world, changes. Nothing is constant. Its like a constant flow of river, ever changing, never stopping, modifying and going on to eternity .....

As i stood on the church banks lost in thought, i saw the ever changing life situations, circumstances, people and places. Nothing is constant. Only change is constant. The one who understands and accepts it, wins and passes life at peace.

That's the message of the desolated beauty of Shettihalli church....

Go ahead visit it and enjoy the deep philosophical beauty of this floating church of Karnataka....Enjoy its surrealistic beauty!