The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church, being the second-largest Christian church in India based on the number of members. It is the result of union of a number of Protestant churches in South India after independence.
The Church of North India (CNI) is the dominant united Protestant Church in northern India, was established on 29 November 1970 by bringing together the Protestant churches working in northern India; it is thus a province of the worldwide Anglican Communion and member of the World Methodist Council, as well as the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The merger, which had been in discussions since 1929, came eventually between the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon (Anglican), the United Church of Northern India,, the Baptist Churches of Northern India, the Church of the Brethren in India, which withdrew in 2006, the Methodist Church and the Disciples of Christ denominations.
Sri Lankan Tamils, also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Province and are in the minority throughout the rest of the country. 70% of Sri Lankan Tamils in Sri Lanka live in the Northern and Eastern provinces.
Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares was initially a priest in the Roman Catholic Church in Goa. He joined the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and was elevated to Metropolitan of Goa, Ceylon and Greater India in the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.
Vaddukoddai is small but important town in the minority Sri Lankan Tamil dominated Jaffna peninsula of Sri Lanka. It became prominent with the founding of Asia’s first modern university level collegiate known as Batticotta Seminary by the American Missionaries from New England in 1823.
Christianity is a minority religion in Sri Lanka. It was introduced to the island in first century, probably in AD 72. Traditionally, after Thomas the Apostle's visit in Kerala in AD 52, Christianity is said to have been introduced to Sri Lanka because of its close geographical and commercial ties.
The American Ceylon Mission (ACM) to Jaffna, Sri Lanka started with the arrival in 1813 of missionaries sponsored by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). Although they had originally planned to work in Galle, the British colonial office in Ceylon restricted the Americans to out-of-the-way Jaffna due to the security concerns of the British who were warring with France at the time. The critical period of the impact of the missionaries was from the 1820s to early 20th century. During this time, they engaged in original translations from English to Tamil, printing, and publishing, establishing primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions and providing health care for residents of the Jaffna Peninsula. These activities resulted in many social changes amongst Sri Lankan Tamils that survive even today. They also led to the attainment of a lopsided literacy level among residents in the relatively small peninsula that is cited by scholars as one of the primary factors contributing to the recently ended civil war. Many notable educational and health institutions within the Jaffna Peninsula owe their origins to the missionary activists from America. Missionaries also courted controversy by publishing negative information about local religious practices and rituals.
Uduvil Girls' College is a girls private school in Uduvil, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1820 by American missionaries, it is one of Sri Lanka's oldest schools.
The Jaffna Diocese is the Church of South India diocese for northern Sri Lanka. The current bishop is Daniel Thiagarajah.
Tellippalai or Thellippalai also known as Tillypalli (தில்லைப்பள்ளி) is a small town in the northern Jaffna District of Sri Lanka. It is located about 15 kilometers north of Jaffna town along the Kankesanthurai road
The Church of Ceylon is the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka. It is an extra-provincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as its Metropolitan. It was established in 1845 with the appointment of the first Anglican Bishop of Colombo, James Chapman and until 1950 it consisted of a single diocese; in that year a second diocese was established at Kurunegala.
Mannar District is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is Mannar, which is located on Mannar Island.
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most populous city. Jaffna is approximately six miles from Kandarodai which served as an emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical antiquity. Jaffna's suburb Nallur, served as the capital of the four-century-long medieval Jaffna Kingdom.
Jaffna College is a private school in Vaddukoddai, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1871 as a successor to the Batticotta Seminary which had been established by American missionaries.
Samuel Fisk Green (1822–1884) was an American medical missionary. He graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city. He served with the American Ceylon Mission (ACM) in Jaffna, Sri Lanka during the period (1847–1873) when it was the British colony of Ceylon. During his tenure he founded the Sri Lanka's first medical hospital and school in what later became the Green Memorial Hospital in Manipay in the Jaffna peninsula. He translated and published over 4000 pages of medical literature from English to Tamil as part of his efforts to train doctors in their native language. He was personally responsible for training over 60 native doctors of whom majority had their instructions in Tamil.
The Right Reverend Sabapathy Kulendran was a Ceylon Tamil priest and the Church of South India Bishop of Jaffna.
St. Mary's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jaffna located in Gurunagar, a suburb of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka.
The Diocese of Colombo is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The diocesan bishop's seat is Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour. The current bishop of Colombo is Dushantha Lakshman Rodrigo.
Velupillai Suppiah Thurairajah was a Sri Lankan Tamil architect who designed many buildings in Sri Lanka and abroad.
