Christianity in Maharashtra

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Interior of the Cathedral of the Holy Name, Colaba, Mumbai Holy-Name-Cathedral-Bombay.jpg
Interior of the Cathedral of the Holy Name, Colaba, Mumbai

Christianity is a minority religion in Maharashtra, a state of India. Approximately 79.8% of the population of Maharashtra are Hindus, with Christian adherents being 1.0% of the population.[ citation needed ] The Roman Catholic archdiocese whose seat is in Maharashtra is the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay. There are two different Christian ethnic communities in Maharashtra: the Bombay East Indians, who are predominantly Roman Catholic, and the Marathi Christians, who are predominantly Protestant with a small Roman Catholic population.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Catholic Christians in Maharashtra are mainly concentrated in the Konkan division, especially Vasai (Bassein), Mumbai (Bombay) & Raigad (Colaba) districts; they are known as Bombay East Indians; they were evangelised by Portuguese missionaries during the 15th–16th centuries. Protestants who reside throughout the Maharashtra, being significant in Ahmednagar, Solapur, Pune, Aurangabad, and Jalna, are called Marathi Christians; they were evangelized by British and American missionaries during British rule in the Bombay Presidency.

The Church of North India has dioceses in the state and is a large Protestant church with full communion with the Anglican Church. There are also some members of the Christian Revival Church in Maharashtra, who live mostly in the western coastal regions of the state.

Christians in Maharashtra
YearNumberPercentage
2001 [1]
1,058,313
1.09
2011 [2]
1,080,073
0.96

History

Crucession by Marathi Christians in Mumbai Crucession in CNI Church.jpg
Crucession by Marathi Christians in Mumbai

Christianity was brought to the North Konkan region of Maharashtra by Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles of Christ. Pantaneus visited India in about AD 180, and there he found a Gospel of Matthew written in the Hebrew language, left with the Christians there by Barthlomew.[ citation needed ] This is mentioned by church historian Eusebius, and by Jerome in one of his letters. A flourishing Christian community in the 6th century was mentioned by Kosmos Indicopleustes and Jordanus, who worked among the Christians in Thana and Sopara areas in the 13th century. The French Dominican friar Jordanus Catalani of Severac (in south-western France) started evangelizing activities in Thana and Sopara and was the first work of Rome in North Konkan. [3]

Most of the history of the church in India is lost between the 9th and 14th centuries, as Persia went over to Nestorianism in 800 AD. Since the provision of church offices and all the apparatus of public worship was looked to a foreign source, the Indian Christians were reduced to "nominal" Christians when this foreign aid was withdrawn. [4] When Dominican and Franciscan missionaries arrived in the 1300s with the intention of preaching the Gospel, they were surprised to find a small Christian community already in existence. Protestant missionaries first arrived in Maharashtra from England and the United States in 1813 after the passing of the Charter Act of 1813 by the British parliament.

East Indians (Mobaikars)

East Indians, also known as Mobaikars, [5] are an ethno-religious group native to the Seven Islands of Bombay and Mumbai metropolitan area in the northern Konkan Division. Christianity was first installed by Bartholomew, one of Jesus Christ's apostles. Owing to a shortage of priests for many years, the locals were reduced to being "nominal Christians". It was because of the arrival of Portuguese and with them Jesuit missionaries who spread a new form of Christianity called Roman Catholicism in the area. The name Bombay East Indians was taken in the British India to differentiate native Christians of Greater Bombay, from those of Goa and Mangalore who came to Mumbai in search of jobs, on the occasion of golden jubilee of Queen Victoria.[ citation needed ]

They are engaged in agriculture, fishing and other occupations handed down to them by their ancestors. Bombay East Indians are generally more anglicised than other Maharashtrian Christians. The influence of the Portuguese Bombay and Bassein era can be seen in their religion and names, but their language has dominated by Marathi since the Mahratta Confederacy seized control of Konkan in 1739 AD.[ citation needed ]

Bardeskars

A Konkani Christian native of Bardes, Goa— their ancestral hometown; is called Bardeskar. [6] [7] Bardeskars are an ethno-religious Christian community adhering to the Roman Rite from the Sindhudurg diocese [8] (Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts) of the southern Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. [9] Sporadic settlements of Ghata Voylem Kristanv (Konkani for "Christians from above the Ghats") are also found in the uplands of Kolhapur, Belgaum, North Canara & Dharwad districts. [10] They belong to the Konkani ethnicity and Konkani is their first language. [11] Marathi and Kannada are among the other languages spoken by them. [12]

Kudali Catholics

Catholic Christians of Kudal, Sawantwadi, and Ratnagerry speak the Kudali or Malvani dialect of Konkani. [13] [14] [15]

Marathi Christians

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Pune St. Patrick's Cathedral, Poona.JPG
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Pune
Hume Memorial Church in Ahmednagar Hume Memorial church Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra India. 20151226 054619.jpg
Hume Memorial Church in Ahmednagar

Marathi Christians are predominantly Protestant with small numbers of Roman Catholics. They belong to several Protestant denominations, but mainly the Church of North India. British missionary William Carey was instrumental in translating the Bible into the Marathi language.

In Maharashtra, Protestant Christians are mainly converts from Hinduism and some from Islam. The first Protestant mission to India was the American Marathi Mission. [16] The main center of Protestant activity in the Maharashtra region during British colonial rule was in Ahmadnagar district. The first Protestant mission in the district was opened in 1831 by the American Marathi mission.

In Maharashtra, the Protestant missionaries concentrated not only on direct evangelism but also founded numerous small vernacular schools. Scottish Presbyterian Missionary John Wilson built Wilson College, Mumbai.[ citation needed ]

Church in Miri-Maka MIRI church.jpg
Church in Miri-Maka

Culture

There are similarities of customs and culture between Hindus and Marathi Christians, such as dress, food, and cuisine. The Hindu custom of wearing saree, mangalsutra, and bindis is still prominent among native Christians. Marathi Christians highly retain their Marathi culture, and they have kept their Pre-Christian surnames. In Maharashtra, the great Marathi poet Narayan Wamanrao Tilak realised that a Hindu–Christian synthesis was simply not possible, unless the Christian religion had deep roots in the Indian culture. He trained the Marathi Christians to worship and sing bhajan and kirtan . He showed Christian faith in a genuinely Indian way.[ citation needed ]

List of denominations

[17] [18] [19]

Notable Marathi Christians

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konkan</span> Region of Southwest India

The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau to the east. The hinterland east of the coast has numerous river valleys, riverine islands and the hilly slopes known as the Western Ghats; that lead up into the tablelands of the Deccan. The region has been recognised by name, since at least the time of Strabo in the third century CE. It had a thriving mercantile port with Arab tradesmen from the 10th century. The best-known islands of Konkan are Ilhas de Goa, the site of the Goa state's capital at Panjim; also, the Seven Islands of Bombay, on which lies Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra & the headquarters of Konkan Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konkani language</span> Indo-Aryan language spoken in India

Konkani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language of the Indian state of Goa. It is also spoken in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat as well as Damaon, Diu & Silvassa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bombay East Indians</span> Ethno-religious Indian Christian community of Mumbai (Bombay)

The East Indians, also called East Indian Catholics or Bombay East Indians, are an ethno-religious Indian Christian community native to the Seven Islands of Bombay and the neighbouring Mumbai Metropolitan Area of the Konkan division.

The Konkani people are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the Konkan region of the Indian subcontinent who speak various dialects of the Konkani language. Konkani is the state language of Goa and also spoken by populations in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Damaon and Kerala. Other Konkani speakers are found in Gujarat state. A large percentage of Konkani people are bilingual.

Norteiros were a historical people who lived in the former Portuguese exclaves of the western littoral parts of the northern Konkan region, in the present-day Greater Bombay Metropolitan Area and the Damaon territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandor, Palghar</span> Village in Maharashtra

Sandor is a census town falling within the Vasai (Bassein) municipality of the Palghar district, in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. Sandoris, the natives of Sandor, are predominantly Roman Catholic Kshatriyas of the Christian Bombay East Indian community, they converted in the colony centred around Bassein, the richest possession of the former Portuguese East Indies with the capital at Velha Goa, in the southern edge of the Konkan region. Prior to the arrival of Portuguese Armadas, there had also been some Nestorians descended from Jewish converts, by the efforts of the apostles Thomas or Bartholomew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pernem taluka</span> Sub-District in Goa, India

Pernem is a northmost administrative region or sub-district in North Goa in India. It acts as the Gateway of Goa from Maharashtra side. It is also the name of the town of Pernem, which is its headquarters. It has a Municipal Council. Geographically, Pernem is surrounded by Sawantwadi sub-district on East, Arabian Sea on West, Bardez and Bicholim sub-district on south and Sawantwadi sub-district on north. The two rivers which decide the boundary of this sub-district are Terekhol River and Chapora River. Terekhol river acts as a border of Maharashtra and Goa while Chapora river acts as a border of Pernem sub-district and Bardez sub-district.

Narayan Vaman Tilak was a Marathi poet from the Konkan region of then Bombay Presidency in British India, and a famous convert to Christianity from Chitpavan Brahmin Community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konkan division</span> Region in Maharashtra, India

Konkan division is one of the six administrative divisions of Maharashtra state in India. It comprises the central portions of the Konkani region excluding Goa and Damaon, which were absorbed into Maharashtra owing to the States Reorganisation of India. Konkan division is the western section of present-day Maharashtra, alongside the west coast of India. The two districts of the state capital of Mumbai (Bombay) also fall into this division.

Thomas Stephens was an English Jesuit priest, missionary, writer, and linguist of Marathi and Konkani in Portuguese India. Educated at Oxford, he was one of the earliest Western Christian missionaries to early modern India. He, along with Roberto de Nobili, helped in converting the top class of Indian society by adopting local practices and writing books in local languages, to appeal to the local people. He is famous for having written the Krista Purana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuswar</span> Christmas goodies prepared by Konkani Christians

Kuswar or Kuswad is a set of festive sweets and snacks made and exchanged by Christians of the Konkan region in the Indian subcontinent for the Christmas season or Christmastide. These goodies are major parts of the cuisines of the Goan Catholic community of Goa in the Konkan region, and the Mangalorean Catholic community of Karnataka. There are as many as 22 different ethnic recipes that form this distinct flavour of Christmas celebration in Goa and Mangalore. Kuswad is also made and exchanged by Karwari Catholics of Carnataca and the Kudali Catholics of Sindhudurg, in the Konkan division of Maharashtra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koli Christians</span> Subgroup of the Koli caste in Konkan division of Maharashtra

Koli Christians are Koli people who profess Christianity in India, they are also a subgroup of the Bombay East Indians, who are the indigenous people of the Seven Islands of Bombay and the Bombay metropolitan area, which is now also called Mumbai (Bombay). The Koli Christians were of the Son Koli subcaste, before their conversion by the Portuguese from Brahmanism to Christianity, in the former Bom Bahia of Portuguese India. Christian Kolis are also known as Thankar and Gaonkar Kolis, they played an important role in building churches & convents in the northern Konkan division of present-day Maharashtra.

The Marathi—Konkani languages are the mainland Southern Indo-Aryan languages, spoken in Maharashtra and the Konkan region of India. The other branch of Southern Indo-Aryan languages is called Insular Indic languages, which are spoken in Insular South Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marathi Christians</span> Ethnic group

Marathi Christians are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian state of Maharashtra who accepted Christianity during the 18th and 19th centuries during the East India Company, and later, the British Raj. Conversions to Protestantism were a result of Christian missions such as the American Marathi Mission, Church Mission Society and the Church of England's United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kudaldeshkar Gaud Brahmin</span> Brahmin community from Konkan region of India

Kudaldeshkar Gaud Brahmin is a Brahmin sub-caste from the western coast of India, residing in the Konkan division of Maharashtra and Goa. They also known as Kudaldeshkar Aadya Gaud Brahmin, Kudaldeshkar and sometimes Kudalkar Brahmins. They speak Marathi, and the Malwani dialect of Konkani.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianization of Goa</span> Conversion of Goan natives to Christianity

The indigenous population of the erstwhile Portuguese colony of Goa, Daman and Diu underwent Christianisation following the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510, which was followed by the Goa Inquisition from 1560 onwards. The converts in the Velhas Conquistas to Roman Catholicism were then granted full Portuguese citizenship. Almost all present-day Goan Catholics are descendants of these native converts; they constitute the largest Indian Christian community of Goa state and account for 25 percent of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Kshatriya</span> Ethnic group

Roman Catholic Kshatriyas are a modern Christianised caste among Goan, Bombay East Indian, Mangalorean, Kudali & Karwari Catholics. They are patrilineal descendants of Kshatriya and Vaishya Vani converts to the Latin Church, in parts of the Konkan region that were under Portuguese Goan rule. They are known as Chardo in Goan Konkani, Charodi in Canarese Konkani & as Sandori or Vadval in Damanese-Maharashtrian Konkani; while others also identify as Bhandari or Khatri in their Bombay East Indian dialects.

Jack Copley Winslow, also known by names John Copley Winslow or J.C. Winslow or John C. Winslow or Jack C. Winslow, was an English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) missionary to Konkan and Pune, then-Poona—both part of then-Bombay Presidency. He was an evangelist, hymnist, and the founder of Christa Seva Sangh—interpreted as Community of the Servants of Christ or The Fellowship of the Servants of Christ and/or The Christian Fellowship of Service.

Religion in Maharashtra is characterised by the diversity of religious beliefs and practices.

The East Indian language or East Indian dialect, also known as Mobai Mahratti and East Indian Marathi, is the form of Marathi-Konkani languages spoken in Bombay (Mumbai). It has a significant amount of Indo-Portuguese loanwords. It does not have a unique script of its own: Devanagari and the Roman script are used by most of its speakers, who are the native Christians of the Seven Islands of Bombay in the northern Konkan division. The dialect is losing popular usage due to immigration, depopulation & anglo-americanisation among most of the younger generation. However, it is still used by some in songs and dramas, as well as in Christian worship since the Novus Ordo was approved in the 1960s.

References

  1. "Total population by religious communities". Censusindia.gov.in. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  2. "Indian Census 2011". Census Department, Government of India. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  3. Thana District Gazeeteer Part – I: Population:Christians-History
  4. Baptista, Elsie Wilhelmina (1967). The East Indians: Catholic Community of Bombay, Salsette and Bassein. Bombay East Indian Association.. Contents taken from East-Indians –- History Archived 10 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine (PDF, 80 KB) article, has been borrowed mainly from Elsie Wilhelmina Baptista's above book.
  5. "Mobai Gaothan Panchayat". Mobai Gaothan Panchayat. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  6. Tracing the history of Bardeskar migration". 23 September 2021. NT Desk. Retrieved on 18 September 2022.
  7. Parkhe, Camil (11 April 2021) "The Bardeskars—The Native Goans And Mystery Of Their Migration From Goa A Few Centuries Ago". Punekar News. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  8. "Diocese of Sindhudurg". UCAN . Retrieved on 18 September 2022.
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  10. Noronha, Frederick. (25 April 2021) "Another of Goa’s lost tribes: The Bardeskars". The Navhind Times . Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  11. Carvalho, Nirmala (17 October 2019). "Maharashtra, first Bible published in Devanagari Konkani language". Asia News . Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  12. Nagvenkar, Mayabhushan (1 December 2014). "Catholics adopt practices of Hindu varkari pilgrims to keep date with St Francis Xavier in Goa". Scroll Media . Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  13. https://books.google.com/books?id=xmBmAAAAMAAJ&q=kudali Catholic&dq=kudali Catholic&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi9-ujP8KeCAxWTHnAKHeNEBE0Q6AF6BAgJEAM
  14. https://books.google.com/books?id=6YbZAAAAMAAJ&q=kudali Konkani Catholic&dq=kudali Konkani Catholic&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjjsaqE8KeCAxX5dfUHHcBWDvIQ6AF6BAgNEAM
  15. Congress, Library of (29 January 1975). Library of Congress Subject Headings. Library of Congress. ISBN   978-0-8444-0101-0.
  16. H. L. Richard (1998). Following Jesus in the Hindu Context: The Intriguing Implications of N.V. Tilak's Life and Thought. William Carey Library. p. 3. ISBN   978-0-87808-288-9.
  17. World Christian Encyclopedia, Second edition, 2001 Volume 1, p. 368-371
  18. "Calicutnet – Everything about Calicut". 11 September 2021.
  19. "The Pentecostal Mission , Ghorpadi – Pune".