Marathi Christians
 Crucession of Marathi Christian in Mumbai | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Languages | |
| Marathi | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlyProtestant(AnglicanMethodist,evangelical), Catholic(minority) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Marathi people |
Marathi Christiansare anethnoreligious groupof theIndian stateofMaharashtrawho accepted Christianity during the 18th and 19th centuries during theEast India Company,and later, theBritish Raj.Conversions toProtestantismwere a result ofChristian missionssuch as the American Marathi Mission,Church Mission Societyand theChurch of England'sUnited Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.[citation needed][1][2][3]
History[edit]
Around the turn of the 18th century,BritishBaptistmissionaryWilliam Careywas instrumental in translating theBibleinto theMarathi language.[5]Most of the converts were lower-casteHinduswith some upper-caste Hindus andMuslims.[6]
Ahmednagar[edit]
TheAmerican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missionsestablished their first foreign mission with the American Marathi mission inBombayon 21 December 1813, it was the firstProtestant MissioninWestern Indiaand spread into hundreds of villages.[7]The mission center moved from Bombay toAhmednagarin 1831 because it was closer to the center of Marathi country. Schools, Boardings, Colleges and theological institutions were created by Marathi mission in late 1800, aiding famine and reaching untouchables increased Christian Converts in area.[8]
Christians ofAhmednagar districtaccount for nearly 10% of district's population, a significant number of whom are located in the eastern part of the district in places such asNevasa,Pathardi,Shevgaon,RahuriandAhmednagaritself.[9]
Palghar[edit]
European and American missionaries established missions inPalgharandDahanuinPalghar district.Most of the converted Christian community from these areas are local native belong to the Second District of the Church of the Brethren (F-257 Bom).
Aurangabad[edit]
Aurangabad is home to TheDiocese of Aurangabadwhich has itsCathedraland Bishop’s House located in the Cantonment Area. TheDiocesecovers the whole ofMarathwadaand works mainly in field ofEducation,Health,andsocial work. [10]
Yavatmal[edit]
The American Free Methodist Church maintains missions atYavatmal,Wani,Umri,Rajurand Darwah.[11]
Pune[edit]
The city of Pune is home to the headquarters of theDiocese of Pune.The Diocese has a significant Marathi Catholic population.[12]
There are several Marathi Methodist, Anglican, Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Church of the Nazarene, Pentecostal and Church of Christ missions across the city.[13]
Culture[edit]
There are similarities of customs and culture between Hindus and Marathi Christians, such as dress, food and cuisine. The Hindu custom of wearingSaree,Mangalsutraand placingBindisis still prominent among native Christians. Marathi Christian highly retain their Marathi culture, and they have kept their Pre-Christian surnames. In Maharashtra, great Marathi poetNarayan Wamanrao Tilakrealised 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 singBhajanandKirtan.
Notable people[edit]
- Pandita Ramabai[14][15]
- Narayan Waman Tilak[16][17]
- Shahu Modak,a Marathi/Hindi movie actor from Ahmednagar. He primarily acted as LordKrishnain 29 mythological films.[18]
- Archana Taide,actress
- Baba Padmanjii,a Brahmin and a Christian convert. An author of over 100 books, hisYamunaparyatanis considered the first novel ofMarathi literature.
- Harish Salve,renowned Jurist.[19]
- N. K. P. Salve,former Union Minister and Congress Leader from Vidarbha.
- Rajanikant Arole,Magasayse award winner and Padmabhushan.
- Chandu Borde,a former cricket player from the Pune district. He played for theIndian cricket teamin 83 matches between 1958 and 1969. His younger brother Ramesh was also a noteworthy cricket player.[20]
- Vijay Hazare,acricketplayer from the Solapur district. He captained the Indian cricket team in fourteen matches between 1951 and 1953. He alsocaptainedBaroda,with whom he won theRanji Trophyin 1959. Hazare is considered by many to be one of the bestmiddle-order batsto play for India.[21]
- Vinod Kambli,a former Indian international Cricketer, who played for India as a left-handed middle order batsman, as well as for Mumbai andBoland,South Africa.[22]Kambli converted to Catholicism after his second marriage.[23]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"Hume, Robert Allen (1847-1929) | History of Missiology".bu.edu.Retrieved6 December2021.
- ^"Christ Church Ahmednagar, Famous Churches in Ahmednagar".ahmednagarlive.in.Retrieved6 December2021.
- ^Willington, Dr Andrew."Memorial Papers of American Marathi MIssion".
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^B.T.B.S. and mangaldham masikachi yashasvi vatchal,2021.February 2022.
- ^"William Carey".Languageinindia. 2 April 2001. Archived fromthe originalon 7 December 2010.Retrieved13 January2011.
- ^Dandekar, Deepra."The subhedar's son: a narrative of Brahmin-Christian conversion from nineteenth-century Maharashtra - Union Presbyterian Seminary Libraries".link.upsem.edu.
- ^"American Marathi Mission Records, 1813-1962".columbia.edu.Retrieved13 December2021.
- ^"American Marathi Mission Records, 1813-1962".columbia.edu.Retrieved13 December2021.
- ^Anderson, Gerald H. (1999).Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions.New York:Macmillan Reference USA.ISBN9780802846808.
- ^Kate, P. V. (1987).Marathwada Under the Nizams, 1724-1948.Delhi, India:Mittal Publications.ISBN9788170990178.
- ^"स्थिति - महाराष्ट्र शासन, भारत".Archived fromthe originalon 25 April 2012.Retrieved13 November2011.
- ^"Top 50 Best Churches in Pune".wanderlog.Retrieved18 November2022.
- ^"Top 50 Best Churches in Pune".wanderlog.Retrieved18 November2022.
- ^"Pandita Ramabai: Championing Women's Education and Social Reform | #IndianWomenInHistory".27 March 2017.
- ^"Ramabai, Dongre Medhavi [Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati] (1858-1922) | History of Missiology".bu.edu.Retrieved21 July2020.
- ^"Tilak, Narayan Vaman (1862?-1919) | History of Missiology".bu.edu.Retrieved21 July2020.
- ^Macnicol, N. (1924)."Narayan Vaman Tilak".International Review of Mission.13(3): 373–382.doi:10.1111/j.1758-6631.1924.tb03897.x.ISSN1758-6631.
- ^Seta, Keyur."Shahu Modak through the eyes of his spiritual partner and wife Pratibha Modak".Cinestaan.Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2020.Retrieved3 January2022.
- ^"'Walk The Talk', With Harish Salve: Full Transcript ".NDTV.Retrieved3 January2022.
- ^"Chandu Borde, Chandu Borde Profile, Chandu Borde Photos, Chandu Borde Cricinfo, Chandu Borde Coach".indianmirror.Retrieved3 January2022.
- ^"Vijay Samuel Hazare, Vijay Hazare, Profile Vijay Samuel Hazare, Vijay Samuel Hazare Achievements, Indian Cricket Player".indianmirror.Retrieved3 January2022.
- ^"Vinod Kambli Profile".cricbuzz.Retrieved28 September2023.
- ^"Vinod Kambli embraces Christianity".dna.28 September 2017.