OFFTRACK: MEERUT, UTTAR PRADESH

For years the Church of Our Lady of Graces has been Sardhana's best-known landmark, attracting worshippers seeking blessings and townsfolk in search of quiet every day. But it is in November that this nondescript town, 20 km from Meerut, really comes alive. That's when the church holds a nine-day pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin Mary. About two lakh pilgrims gather in Sardhana for the feast, which culminates on the second Sunday of November. For devotees, the church holds a twin attraction. It was built by Begum Sumru, a Muslim woman who embraced Catholicism after the death of her first husband. The faithful also come because a pilgrimage is believed to bestow the gift of parenthood. "Mother Mary has been generous here," says Father Alban Mendonca, the parish priest of Sardhana.

Any mention of Begum Sumru in history books is likely to be confined to the footnotes. Born in the 1750s, this daughter of a Muslim nobleman married Walter Reinhardt "Sumru", a disreputable foreign adventurer who commanded his own body of troops and offered their services to chieftains who needed men for routine conflicts. Sumru's last master, Shah Alam, the emperor of Delhi, awarded him the jagir of Sardhana. After Sumru's death in 1778 the command of his 82 European officers and 4,000 troops and the principality of Sardhana passed into the hands of Begum Sumru. It stayed with her for 58 years till her death-after a life full of love affairs and intrigue-in 1836.

Three years after her husband's death, the begum converted to Christianity and took on the name Joanna. In 1793 she married Le Vaisseau, a French officer in her service. Le Vaisseau died fulfilling his part of the suicide pact with Begum Sumru-he shot himself with a pistol when surrounded by the begum's mutinous troops. Begum Sumru's attempt at stabbing herself only resulted in a little loss of blood.

The acceptance, through an 1803 treaty, of British protection allowed Begum Sumru the security and riches to turn to philanthropy. In 1822 she fulfilled her desire of building a church in honour of the Virgin Mary at Sardhana. Built by Anthony Reghelini, an Italian architect, the only blot in the church's appearance is that the approach doesn't face the facade.

But the true faithful are known to look beyond the externals. In November they come from all over. "A quarter of the devotees come from Punjab alone," says Father Mendonca. For Roque Albert, the church's security supervisor who is named after two saints, it's the busiest time of the year. "Queues start to form from four in the morning, " he says.

On other days visitors can take a guided tour of the church for Re 1. On display are the vestments presented to the church by the begum in 1829. There is a sacred image of the Virgin Mary which Pope John XXIII-who in 1961 declared the church a basilica-called "the most illustrious ornament in the church". Another attraction is an 18-ft marble monument that has 11 life-size statues made by Adamo Tadolini, an Italian sculptor. One of them is of a seated Begum Sumru holding the scroll of Emperor Shah Alam II which conferred on her the jagir of Sardhana. Around the church are other buildings connected with the begum. Two of her palaces survive-one is a seminary where future priests are trained, the other, a boys' school.

After her limp suicide attempt the begum suffered the ignominy of being captured and tied to a gun carriage by her rebellious troops. But always the child of destiny, she survived-even thrived. To the end she entertained the most influential people of her time. There is a letter extant from Lord M.W. Bentinck, then governor general of India, written a day before his departure from India, praising Begum Sumru for her "benevolence of disposition and the extensive charity which have endeared you to thousands". The begum even maintained a band of European musicians. Quite a life she lived-especially for someone who had once been forced by straitened circumstances to take up dancing as a profession in Delhi. And today the legacy of the remarkable Begum Farzana Joanna Sumru lives on in the church she built-one which has both history and spirituality on its side.