The parish of Vettukad, more popularly known as “Madre-de-Deus Church”, under the Latin Catholic Arch Diocese of Trivandrum, is a famous pilgrimage site that bears a history of more than five centuries. The church is dedicated to the Mother of God – Madre De Deus – which is combination of two foreign words; derived from Portuguese and Latin ‘Madre’ means Mother and De Deus means ‘of God’; and people from all parts of Kerala and outside, irrespective of caste and creed come to the church seeking the blessings of Christ the King.
A landmark structure in the region since its inception, the church prides itself on its rich history and legacy. And with the recent overhaul of its internal and external semblance; the church’s glorious heritage now embraces cutting-edge audio technology with the installation of a state-of-the-art PA system consisting from global pro audio leaders, Bose Professional – designed and integrated by the Bose Professional team in India in association with their Indian distribution partners Hi-Tech Audio, and regional partners M/S Nobel Audio who managed the installation and technical support during the execution.
With the audio architecture divided into indoor and outdoor sections respectively, the system inside the church comprises multiple units of the Panaray MA12EX modular line-array loudspeakers integrated and aligned in clustered sets of two, with a few units of the RoomMatch Utility RMU 108 loudspeakers supplementing as front-fills. Additional units of the MA12EX cover the flanks of the church as side-fills. The entire system is powered by four Bose PowerMatch® PM8500N networked amplifiers, and complete speaker management is handled via a Bose ControlSpace® ESP-00 processor. This indoor system replaces an older PA system that whose insufficient coverage lead to the need for multiple numbers of speakers to line the internal space, thereby compromising the aesthetical appeal of the heritage structure. The precise positioning of the loudspeakers of the new Bose system perfectly addresses the church’s unique architectural challenges and allows the sound to be projected unobtrusively everywhere within the church with greatly enhancing speech intelligibility. The crystal clear sound is experienced in virtually every seat without significantly increasing the volume.
On the other hand, the outer areas required a complete weatherized solution that met the key requirement of maintaining the same tonal signature as the indoor system. And this is covered through multiple numbers of the LT 9702 WR weatherized loudspeakers speakers along with a few units of the LT MB24 WR subwoofers providing the low-frequency fidelity; all powered through the PowerMatch PM8500N and PM4500N amplifiers. This system is particularly crucial in conveying the audio from inside the church to almost 40 meters outside, where people gather on important celebratory processions like those on Easter and Christmas etc.
Rev Fr. Dr. Nicholas T – head of the church committee at the Madre De Deus Church, shares “Our church stands on the pillars of rich history and legacy; and quality is something that we abide by very strictly. In light of the entire premise commissioning a long overdue renovation, we knew it was time to invest in an enhanced audio system. There were a lot of things driving a change in the sound system, from aesthetics to sound quality and just pure need for greater coverage. After checking almost every available option in the market, we found the Bose system to meet all of those challenges. We met with the team that finally commissioned the sound system here, and they proposed a meticulous design sketched through the Bose Modeler Presentation and Auditioner Demonstration. They went the extra mile in providing a live demonstration of the entire proposed solution which certified the modeled results, and that is when we were completely convinced about the positives of the system and it is an absolute value for money investment. The sense of presence is dramatically improved, and the sound is spectacular. Bose gave us everything we needed in a sound system.”
Mr. Vibhor Khanna – Country Manager – SAARC, Bose Professional asserted, “The Madre De Deus Church is an iconic religious institution, and it is an absolute honor and privilege for Bose Professional to be a part of such a rich legacy. We’d like to thank the entire church committee especially Rev. Fr. Dr. Nicholas and the construction committee convener, Mr. Aloysius for investing their faith in our brand; and a special vote of thanks to the entire audio commissioning team including our official regional representative Gautham ND, and the teams at Hi-Tech Audio and Nobel Audio respectively, for a job well done. We are proud to deliver the kind of world-class audio solution that an exemplary shrine like the Madre De Deus truly deserves.”
