32°14′50″N76°18′39″E / 32.247148°N 76.310719°E /32.247148; 76.310719
St. John in the Wilderness is a Protestant church dedicated toJohn the Baptist. It was built in 1852 and is located nearDharamshala,India, on the way toMcLeod Ganj, at Forsyth Gunj. Set amidstdeodar forest, and built inneo-Gothic architecture, the Church is known for its Belgian stained-glass windows donated by Lady Elgin (Mary Louisa Lambton), wife ofLord Elgin. The Church is under Diocese of Amritsar.Rev.Khojee is the presbyter in charge of this church
Though the church structure survived the1905 Kangra earthquake, which killed close to 19,800 people, injured thousands in the Kangra area, and destroyed most buildings inKangra,Mcleod Ganj andDharamshala; its spire,Bell tower, was destroyed. Later, a new bell, cast in 1915 byMears and Stainbank, was brought from England and installed outside in the compound of the church.[1][2]
Its churchyard is the final resting place ofLord Elgin, who served asGovernor General of the Province of Canada, oversaw the creation of responsible government in Canada, and later, while in China, ordered the complete destruction of theOld Summer Palace. He becameGovernor-General & Viceroy of India in 1861 during theBritish Raj, though he soon died atDharamshala on 20 November 1863, and was buried there.
There is a church by the same name inNainital as well, built in 1844.
