Portal:Indian Christianity

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Christianity in India is the third-largest religion in that nation, following Hinduism and Islam. Abrahamic religions on the whole date back about 2500 years with the arrival of Judaism, followed by arrival of Christianity around 2000 years ago. Christianity came to India very early, several centuries before it reached parts of Europe.

Christianity came to India in two main periods, the first century missionary activity of Thomas, the disciple of Jesus, and the Western missionary activities from 1500 to 1975. Vasco da Gama, seeking pre-existing Christian nations in India, discovered a sea route to India by circumnavigating the Cape of Good Hope which caused a major influence on both the histories of Asia and Europe.

The total number of Christians in India as per Census in 2001 are 24,080,016 or 2.34% of the population. There are three main regional concentrations of Christian population, namely in South India, on the Konkan Coast, and among tribal people in East, Central, and North-East India. The states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in South India and Arunachal Pradesh in North-East India account for 60% of India's total Christian population.

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Mangalorean Catholics are Roman Catholics from the former South Canara district on the southwestern coast of India. They are Konkani people and speak the Konkani language. Portuguese shipping arrived in Mangalore in 1526, and Catholic missionary activities began around 1534, when Canara was placed under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the Bishop of Goa. Most of the ancestors of Mangalorean Catholics were Goan Catholics, who had migrated to South Canara from Goa, a state north of Canara, between 1560 and 1763 during the Goa Inquisition and the Portuguese-Maratha wars. Gradually they learned the languages of South Canara but retained Konkani as their mother tongue. In time, they referred to themselves as Mangalorean Catholics to distinguish themselves from their ancestors from Goa. The most disconsolate memory in the community's history was a 15-year captivity imposed by Tipu Sultan, the de facto ruler of Mysore, from 24 February 1784 to 4 May 1799 at Seringapatam. After the defeat of Tipu Sultan, the community resettled in South Canara, and gradually prospered under the British. The culture of Mangalorean Catholics is a blend of Canarese and Goan cultures. After migration, they adopted the local Canarese culture but retained many of their Goan customs and traditions. The Mangalorean Catholic diaspora is scattered across the globe, with emigrant communities in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and the Anglosphere.

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Credit: Robin klein

This is a Nasrani Menorah also known as the Mar Thoma Cross. The six branches, (three branches on either side of the cross) represents God as the burning bush, while the central branch holds the cross, and the dove at the tip of the cross represents the holy spirit. In all, there are seven branches in the etched icon, representing the Jewish menorah and the cross.

The Nasrani menorah or the Mar thoma cross represents the Christian-Jewish tradition of the Nasrani people in Kerala, South India. Cross is the most common symbol of Christianity, intended to represent the redeeming martyrdom of Jesus when he was crucified on the True Cross in the New Testament.

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Did you know...

• ...that St. Mary's Basilica is the oldest church in Bangalore and the only basilica in the Indian state of Karnataka?
• ...that the St. Philomena's Church (pictured) in the city of Mysore in India was built in Neo Gothic style drawing inspiration from the Cologne Cathedral in Germany?
• ...that William Mitchell was a Church of England priest who was the first ordained person to provide religious services in the Swan Valley area of the Swan River Colony?

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Saint Thomas the Apostle, Judas Thomas or Didymus, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus.

Thomas appears in a few passages in the Gospel of John. In John 11:16, when Lazarus has just died, the disciples are resisting Jesus' decision to return to Judea, where the Jews had previously tried to stone Jesus. Jesus is determined, but Thomas has the last word: "Let us also go, that we might die with him" (NIV).

He also speaks up at The Last Supper . Jesus assures his disciples that they know where he is going, but Thomas protests that they don't know at all. Jesus replies to this and to Philip's requests with a detailed and difficult exposition of his relationship to God the Father.

In Thomas's best known appearance in the New Testament, John 20:24-29, he doubts the resurrection of Jesus and demands to feel Jesus' wounds before being convinced. Caravaggio's painting, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (illustration above), depicts this scene. This story is the origin of the term Doubting Thomas. After seeing Jesus alive (the Bible never states whether Thomas actually touched Christ's wounds), Thomas professed his faith in Jesus, exclaiming "My Lord and my God!"; on this account he is also called Thomas the Believer.

The indigenous church of Kerala State, India has a tradition that St. Thomas sailed there to spread the Christian faith. He is said to have landed at a small village, at that time a port, named Palayoor, near Guruvayoor, which was a priestly community at that time. He left Palayoor in AD 52 for southern Kerala State, where he established the Ezharappallikal, or "Seven and Half Churches".

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v • d • e Christianity in India Foundations Christianity • Malankara Church • Syrian Malabar Nasrani • Saint Thomas Christians • Holy Apostolic Throne of St. Thomas • Malankara Metropolitans • Knanaya Important figures St Thomas • St Francis Xavier • Reginald Heber • Blessed Kuriakose Chavara • Henry Martyn‎ • Bishop Cotton‎ • William Carey • Anthony Norris Groves • Hugh Findlay • Charles Freer Andrews • Sister Alphonsa • Mother Teresa Groups Chaldean Syrian Church • Church of North India • Church of South India • Indian Brethren • Indian Pentecostal Church • Jacobite Syrian Church • Malabar Independent Church • Mar Thoma Church • Orthodox Syrian Church • Roman Catholic Church • St. Thomas Evangelical Church • Syro-Malankara Catholic Church • Syro-Malabar Catholic Church Events Synod of Diamper • Coonan Cross Oath • Goa Inquisition

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