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Bishop B. S. Devamani was the seventh Bishop - in - Dornakal Diocese of the Church of South India whose bishopric was from 2006 to 2012.

Studies

After initial studies in English literature at the CSI-Noble College, Machilipatnam and teaching in Mulug, Devamani was sent for spiritual studies by Bishop P. Solomon to study at the Anglican Bishop's College, Kolkata affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University), India's first {a university under Section 2 (f) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956} with degree-granting authority validated by a Danish Charter and ratified by the Government of West Bengal. From 1972 to 1975, Devamani was in Kolkata studying at the Bishop's College for the graduate degree of Bachelor of Divinity under faculty including Yisu Das Tiwari and others after which the Senate of Serampore College (University) under the Registrarship of Chetti Devasahayam awarded him a graduate degree.

For postgraduate studies, Devamani was sent in 1978 to the General Episcopal Theological Seminary in New York City where he specialized in inter-religious studies researching on the Indian Vaishnava Saint Ramanuja under J. A. Carpenter resulting in a dissertation which Devamani later published it in 1990 under the title The Religion of Ramanuja: A Christian Appraisal. From New York, Devamani moved to the Diocese of Canterbury, England to minister there for a year and returned in 1981 to the Diocese of Karimnagar to continue his pastoral ministry in Kazipet.

Again in 1990, Devamani was sent by the Church of South India Synod to pursue doctoral studies in ministry at the Chicago Theological Seminary, Chicago where he studied up to 1992. Devamani's doctoral dissertation was solely based out of his pastoral experiences at Kazipet which was entitled Practice of mission at St. John's Congregation of Kazipet in the Church of South India. While in Chicago, Devamani also pastored rural congregations of Odell and Emington under the United Church of Christ.

Ministry and Bishopric

Ever since his ordination in 1975/1976 as Deacon/Presbyter, Devamani began ministering in the parishes of Diocese of Dornakal. In 1995, Devamani returned to India as the Church of South India Synod made him Director of the Pastoral Aid Department. Again in 1998, Devamani was sent to the Diocese of Jerusalem as Pastor till 2000 and returned to the Diocese of Karimnagar to minister to the parishes.

In 2006 when Bishop A. Rajarathnam of the adjoining Diocese of Dornakal retired on attaining superannuation, Devamani contested for the bishopric and was declared elected by then Moderator of the Church of South India Synod, B. P. Sugandhar who principally consecrated him in the presence of the Deputy Moderator, S. Vasantha Kumar at the CSI-Epiphany Cathedral in Dornakal. Devamani's bishopric lasted from 2006 till 2012 the year in which he retired on superannuation.

Devamani died under tragic circumstances on 22 April 2013 in Hyderabad.

References

1. ^ M. Edwin Rao (Compiled), Prophet Azariah and the Blessed Dornakal: A centenary revisit 1912-2012, Dornakal Diocese, Dornakal, 2012, pp.94-95
2. ^ Bishop’s death: woman picked up for questioning in The Hindu, Hyderabad, 4 May 2013.
3. Sunil Raj Philip, Bishop B. S. Devamani called to higher services, 29 June 2013, NCCI.
4. Sankar Ray, The Hindu (Business Line), 11 April 2008 Almost a century later, the charter was endorsed officially under the Bengal Govt Act IV of 1918. Internet, accessed 30 November 2008.
5. The Senate of Serampore College (University) is a University within the meaning of Section 2 (f) of the UGC Act, 1956 under which a University means a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act, and includes any such institution as may, in consultation with the University concerned, be recognised by the Commission in accordance with the regulations made in this behalf under this Act. The UGC took the opinion that the Senate fell under the purview of Section 2 (f) of the said Act since The Serampore College Act, 1918 was passed by the Government of West Bengal.
6. The Story of Serampore and its College, The Council of Serampore College, 2005 (Fourth Edition), pp.91-92
7. ^ B. S. Devamani, The Religion of Ramanuja: A Christian Appraisal, CLS, Madras, 1990.
8. The Diocese of Dornakal was bifurcated in 1978.
9. B. S. Devamani, Practice of mission at St. John's Congregation of Kazipet in the Church of South India, Chicago Theological Seminary Lapp learning commons, Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) Professional Papers 1991-2000. Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading

• Anantha Sudhaker Bobbili (2000). The Road from Poodur in Biographical Passages: Essays in Victorian and Modernist Biography : Honouring Mary M. Lago, University of Missouri, North America. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-1256-6.

• Telugu people
• 21st-century Anglican bishops in India
• Anglican bishops of Dornakal
• Indian Christian theologians
• People from Khammam district
• Senate of Serampore College (University) alumni
• 2013 deaths
• Chicago Theological Seminary alumni
• Church of South India clergy
• 21st-century Indian bishops