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Demographics
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Christians in India are generally found along the northeastern border and on the western coast and Kerala, where they make up about a fifth of the population. Christianity has existed in Kerala for very long, as tradition has it that the first Indian converts were made by St Thomas, the Apostle himself in 52 AD soon after the Crucifixion. St. Thomas preached the Gospel in many parts of India and is said to have been martyred in Madras (now Chennai) where he was was buried in what is now known as the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Mallapur. Further evidence of Christianity is found in the travelogue- Christian Geography, by Cosmas Indicopleustes, a Syrian monk who traveled in India in the 6th Century. He refers to the Nestorian churches in Malabar, officiated over by Persian priests and supervised by Persian patriarch who occupied a seat in Cochin. Only a few Nestorians are left today as Indian Christians turned to the patriarch or Antioch for guidance. The Syrian Orthodox creed continues to flourish in Kerala. It has its own Patriarch at Kottayam. The Syrian Christian church is a blend of the Indian traditions and Christian orthodoxy. The devotees remove their shoes at the entrance of the church, and a marriage ceremony is not complete without the groom covering the head of the bride with a red veil and places around her neck the thali (a gold chain with a special pendant, which is symbolically worn by all Hindu women. Caste system too has influenced the religion. The converts have adopted the caste systems as a means of social organization within the church.
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Fast Facts: - Christianity is the most widely followed religion in the world. - Christianity came to India in the sixth century. |
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