Way of the cross is a devotional practice popular among the Catholics in the Katukurunda parish. Exquisitely carved reliefs of the stations of the cross are to be found in the Catholic Churches. Relief is a sculptural technique where the sculpted elements remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term relief is from the Latin verb relevo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane. What is actually performed when a relief is cut in from a flat surface of stone (relief sculpture) or wood (relief carving) is a lowering of the field, leaving the unsculpted parts seemingly raised.
Way of the Cross reliefs made of plaster of Paris are found in the interior of both St. Mary’s Church Katukurunda and St. Joseph Vaz Church, Modera above the doors on the side walls of the nave. They are used for the practice of making the way of the Cross meditations and reflections specifically during the season of Lent. In addition to these interior reliefs during the season of lent fourteen wooden crosses are planted in front of the church garden along the boundary walls for the public to make way of the cross devotion in small groups and families. This seasonal setting up of wooden crosses are done in both Churches in Katukurunda and Modera.
