Influence of Christianity in India

The Impact of Indian
Christianity on
Indian Society
205
Indian Christians and the Freedom Movement

INDIAN CHRISTIANITY, ALTHOUGH A minority religion, played a very
significant role in the freedom movement of India. The main instrument of
political nationalism common to all Indians was the Indian National Congress,
founded in 1885. One of its important features was the separation of religion
and politics. The second annual session of the Congress declared that it was
a community of temporal interests and that their general interest in the
country being identical, Hindus, Christians, Mohammedans and Parsees may
as fitly as members of their respective communities represent each other in
the discussions of the public secular affairs.
The Indian Christian community played an important role in the early
phase of the Congress, evident at the third session of the Congress (1887)
where, out of 607 participants, there were fifteen Indian Christian delegates
who actively participated in the deliberations. Some of the outstanding
Indian Christian delegates were Madhu Sunder Das of Orissa who addressed
the Congress on the question of expansion of legislative councils, and
N Subramaniam who proposed a resolution that pleaded for complete
separation of judicial and executive functions by government officials. The
Indian Christian delegates continued their contributions in the four
subsequent sessions of the Congress. Special mention should be made of
Pandita Ramabai Saraswati and Kali Chandran Banerjee.
205
206
Christianity in India Through the Centuries
Panditha Ramabai Saraswati (1858-1922) was an outstanding Indian

Christian woman. In the 1889 Congress session there were ten Christian
delegates of which Pandita Ramabai Saraswati was one. She was one of the
first Indians who championed the right of women to participate in national
politics, eloquently articulating the pitiable history of Indian womanhood.
Ramabai also played an important role in the third session of the
National Social Conference in 1889 at which she supported a resolution
condemning the practice of disfiguring the Hindu widows.
Kali Charan Banerjee is considered one of the great leaders and founders
of the movement for emancipation. A writer of the third session of the
Congress in 1887 noted, Perhaps the finest orator in the whole assembly
was Babu Kali Charan Banerjee, who is a Bengali Christian. He regularly
addressed the Congress annual sessions, moulding the policy of the national
movement and putting a number of proposals before the British government
for administrative reforms. In the 1889 session, he was responsible for a
resolution demanding improvement in the educational systems particularly
university education. He was also instrumental in 1889 in protesting against
the prohibition imposed by the government on teachers participating in
political movements. Among his main contributions in 1896, Banerjee
again presented a resolution demanding improvement in the educational
system, especially the university education in the country.
A further turn of events took place in the first decade of the
20th century during which Indian nationalism became polarized on a
communal basis. The Muslim League was formed in 1906 and the
backward classes and minority communities started pursuing independent
lines of expression of their patriotic activities, actively pursuing independent
political goals.
Another feature of the political scenario was the Swadeshi Movement
started in 1905 when the plan for the partition of Bengal was mooted. The
movement entered a new phase with the formal declaration of a boycott of
foreign goods at a public meeting in Calcutta on 7 August 1905. Their cry
for Boycott and Swadeshi soon spread along the political, economic and
cultural fronts, which took the form of a multifaceted boycott of British
goods, educational institutions and courts of justice. This movement also
tried to establish national independence in economic, political and cultural
areas. Brahmabandhab Upadhyay, the Hindu Catholic sadhu and
The Impact of Indian Christianity on Indian Society
207
theologian was a leading player in the Swadeshi movement, and he was

prosecuted on a charge of sedition in 1907. During the trial he refused to
take any part, as he would have nothing to do with what he saw as an alien
power that happened to rule India.
By 1920, the social and political forces in India launched another
confrontation against foreign rule, promoting nation-wide non-co-operation
with the British Government of India. There were many Christians taking
part in the Non-Co-operation Movement, and the Christian communitys
solidarity with the movement was clearly manifested in a statement made
at a conference of leading Christians from all over India, held in Ranchi in
1923, which declared that swaraj, nationalism, or self-determination helped
the self-realization of a people: that it is consistent with the Christian religion
and helpful to the Christian life.
The Civil Disobedience Movement (1930) authorized people
whenever it deems fit, to launch upon a programme of Civil Disobedience
including non-payment of taxes, and the beginning of this movement
was Gandhis historic Salt March from Sabarmati ashram to Dandi on
the sea on 16 April 1930, when he picked up a pinch of salt from the sea,
thus symbolically violating the salt law. Among the 78 members of the
Ashram who accompanied Gandhi was Thevarthundiyil Titus. Titus, a
young disciple of Gandhi who was an agriculture student and a member
of a Christian family in Travancore. Boycott of British cloth and picketing
of liquor shops were followed by a series of mass demonstrations in many
centres. The government dealt with the situation with a stern hand by
imprisoning people in thousands, imposing strict censorship on the press,
and exercising special powers.
The Indian Christians were not just passive listeners or witnesses in
this whole scenario. The Indian Christian Association of Bengal at its
executive meeting passed a resolution pledging full support to the freedom
movement. A conference of Christians in Bombay declared its complete
sympathy with the national aspirations. The Indian Social Reformer, a
leading national weekly of the time reported on the meeting thus: The
first resolution stated that the members of the Indian Christian
communitywere one with other communities in their desire to win for
India complete swaraj at the earliest possible moment, and were of the
opinion that absolute non-violent salt satyagraha was in no way
208
against the teaching of Jesus Christ and was capable of achieving great
moral victories.1
A meeting of the Christians in Palayamcottah and Tinnevely revealed
how intensely they had embraced the national spirit. The addresses made
it clear that the Indian Christians were not behind any other community
in their desire for freedom and in their readiness to work and suffer for it.
Furthermore, in 1930, the All India Christian Council, which is the
executive body of the All India Council of Indian Christians, met and
adopted a resolution which, while not subscribing to the civil disobedience
movement as such, declared solidarity of Christians with the thrust of the
national movement.2
The Quit India Movement (1942) was a landmark in the history of
the Freedom Movement of India. Those Christians who expressed themselves
in complete solidarity with the demand for immediate Indian independence
included the All India Conference of Indian Christians, the National
Christian Council of India, Christian leaders and student groups related to
such institutes and movements as the United Theological College
(Bangalore), Serampore College (Bengal), Youth Christian Council of Action
(Kerala), and the Student Christian Movement of India. Many Indian leaders
publicly acknowledged the valuable contribution of Indian Christians. In
December 1944, C Rajagopalachari said:
Does not the national world in India know that the Indian Christian community
has distinguished itself at every conference by giving the fullest support to the
National Movement and by never giving support to anti-nationalist trends?3
However, one has to recognize the fundamental conflict inherent in the

politics of nationalism and the freedom struggle, and later in the nationbuilding process. This conflict is between religion and ethnicity on the one
hand and nationhood and state on the other, and this struggle remains a
critical one even today. During the period of freedom struggle, the Christian
community passed through a conflict within itself between two opposing
self-definitions; one, a closed religious community, and the other, an open
community, which participates in secular civil society.
From 1927 onwards the All India Conference of Indian Christians
refused to identify them as a closed communal political entity. So they
rejected communal electorates, which the British rulers awarded at first to
the Muslims and then to the Christians and other religious communities as
209
well. The All India Conference of Indian Christians in 1930 stated their
understanding of the Christian community:
The place of a minority in a nation is its value to the whole nation and not
merely to itself. That value depends on the quality of its life, the standard of its
preparation for lifes various activities, the strenuousness with which it throws
itself into all avenues of useful services and the genuineness with which it seeks
the common weal.
So, when in August 1947, the Interim Report of the Minority Advisory
Committee of the Constituent Assembly proposed the constitutional
provision of reservation for Indian Christians in central legislature and in
the provincial legislatures of Madras and Bombay, Christian leaders like
H C Mukerjee and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur were from the beginning against
this reservation of seats on a communal basis as it would be detrimental to
the national interest. However, after much deliberation, the constituent
assembly finally decided to provide statutory reservation of seats in the
legislative assemblies only for the scheduled castes and a few other depressed
communities for a limited period.
It is interesting to note the enlightened patriotism of Indian Christian
leaders manifested in moulding the self-image of the Christian community
as part of the national civil society, which certainly was a significant
contribution to the nation-building process in India. No doubt, Christians
in India were very active participants in the freedom struggle for
independence from the very beginning of western domination of India.
Certainly, they were one of the pioneering forces, which shaped the goals of
Indian nationalism and strategies in the struggle for independence of India.
The Christian community in Travancore (South India) played a key
role in the pro-democracy movement in the State. The role of the Christian
community in the Quit India Movement of 1930 and the Joint Political
Congress, which determined the direction of the Travancore politics, was
commendable. Some historians would recognize T M Verghese as the
father of the democratic system of Travancore. There are a number of
outstanding Indian Christian women who played a significant role on
behalf of women and the pro-democracy movement. Two of them were
Anne Mascarene and Accamma Cherian. These women leaders came from
the St Thomas Christian community.
The number of Christians in leadership positions in the Travancore
State Congress and the agitation for responsible government in the State
210
are demonstrations that the Christian community pioneered nationalism

and the struggle for democracy. Out of the 12 members of the first working
committee of the Travancore State Congress, five were Christians. On
31 May 1938, a committee of the Travancore State Congress leaders affixed
their signatures to the petition submitted to the Maharaja. Seven of them
were Christians. In the freedom struggle movement in Travancore, the church
leadership especially the bishops played a very significant role. Special
mention must be made of the pro-democracy position taken by
Metropolitan Abraham Mar Thoma in the context of the agitation for
responsible government in 1938, and Bishop Mar James Kalaserry of
Changanacherry Diocese in the heroic resistance against the attempt of
the Travancore Government (1945) to bring the Christian school system
under its control.
In the 1930s and the following decade there was the Youth Christian
Council of Action (YCCA), a movement of young people who saw in the
Christian gospel resources that could be directed towards the struggle for
freedom, secular civil society, socialism and democracy. They were
courageous enough to express their ideas to the authorities of state and
church because they were gripped by the Christian gospel, the quest of
which is the creation of human freedom, protection of human dignity,
and the promotion of human welfare. This group is very similar to
the political witness of the Confessing Church in Germany during the
Second World War.
Going through the pages of history from 1880 to 1950, it is evident
that the Indian Christians have played their rightful place in the struggle
for Indian independence. Unfortunately during the last decade or so, a
number of members of fundamentalist groups of the majority religion in
India made a false allegation that Indian Christians do not belong to
India and they should return to their country of origin. They seem to
have forgotten that Christianity is an Asian religion and it remains so.
Christians are part and parcel of the wider Indian community, and not
an imported product.
The Impact of Christianity on Other Indian

Religions
Hinduism is based on the Vedic myths concerning gods and epics of
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Ramayana and Mahabaratha and emphasizes a mythical meaning of time

rather than chronology and actual events. Buddha and Mahavira were
historical figures and their followers concentrated much on their moral
teachings as well as handing down of traditions. But when it came down to
locating them in history, they gave free rein to mythology. Christianity,
however, insists on the historical events of the life, teaching, death and
resurrection of Jesus, and only in encounter with Christianity did Hinduism
come to emphasize places like Ayodhya and Dwaraka. Buddhism, on the
other hand, stresses the importance of places and events in Buddhas life.
Indian religions were not very much concerned with ideology and
doctrines, but emphasized the contemplation of the inexpressible reality of
the ultimate. On the other hand, Judaism, Christianity and Islam believed
in the exclusive teaching they wanted to preserve at any cost. Each of
themJudaism, Christianity and Islamhad recourse to a sacred book.
Indian religions, which were very tolerant of doctrinal differences with a
great many puranas and more than a hundred Upanishads developed
academic consciousness, feeling the need for disciplines like logic, psychology
and metaphysics only after the arrival of these religions in India.
All the three religionsBuddhism, Christianity and Islamwere based
on particular historical eventsBuddhas attainment of Enlightenment
under the bodhi tree, Christs death and resurrection and the revelation of
the Quran to the Mohammed. Although Hinduism insisted that each one
had to achieve realization by oneself, they felt the need for evangelization.
So people like Sankaracharya travelled from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and
made many converts from Buddhism and Hinduism to sects like Vaishnavism
to his Saivite Advaitism.
From the early centuries itself, Hinduism showed positive responses
to Christianity. When St Thomas Christians established themselves in
South India, they became an integral part of the Indian caste system,
forming an intermediate level between the higher caste and the lower
strata. The Bhakti movement, a devotional tradition of South India, was
a social phenomenon that involved a close relation between the St Thomas
Christians, the Muslim Sufis and the Hindu ascetics of Tamil tradition
like Thiruvalluar.
Another example of a positive reaction to Christian missionaries is the
Hindu reform movement of Bengal in the 19th century. The missionaries
212
spoke strongly against idolatry and social evils like child marriage and practice
of sati by which widows were forced to immolate themselves on the funeral
pyre of their husbands. Some Hindu leaders were convinced by these
arguments, and as Christianity inspired them they started a reform
movement in Hinduism. Leaders like Raja Ram Mohan Roy,
Keshub Chandra Sen and Pratap Sunder Majumdar remained Hindus and
tried to change Hinduism from within. But many like Kali Charan Banerjee,
Chenchiah and Vengal Chakkarai embraced Christianity, taking with them
real Hindu values they had treasured.
Some of the leaders of Hinduism took an aggressive approach against
Christianity. Swami Vivekananda, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and many
great Hindu and Buddhist scholars went to the West and fought against
materialism, imperialism and colonialism. They pointed out the inherent
materialism of Greco-Western thinking that saw matter as the ultimate
stuff out of which all things evolved and spirit as an outside controlling
agent, a prison. They held the view that India saw spirit or atman as the
final principle from which all things emerged as manifestation and
expression. However, they all agree that Indian religions cannot deliver the
goods they promise without tackling the problem of the widespread
economic poverty of the Indian masses through adequate material progress
with the help of science and technology, and fighting the corruption in
public life that widens the gap between the rich and the poor.
Nobody can deny the fact that the root of Indian backwardness is religion.
The karma-samsara theory of Hinduism is the Achilles heal of Indian
spirituality. It is the theory of karma that makes people take a positive and
fatalistic attitude toward their lot in life. So also, belief in rebirth encourages
people to take the easy path in the present life with the expectation that one
will get another chance in the next life. But, for the Christians, there is only
one life to live and what he does here will determine his eternity.
The Christian Contribution to Modern Indian

Civilization
Jawaharlal Nehru in 1946 said,
Indian Christians are part and parcel of the Indian people. Their traditions go back
1,500 years or more and they form one of the many enriching elements in the
countrys cultural and spiritual life.
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Nehru was referring especially to the earliest Indian Christianity, which

has been in existence in Kerala continuously since the first century. No
doubt, they were and are very much part of the culture and social reality
in Kerala. Early Kerala Christians were predominant in agriculture,
commerce and warfare. They excelled in pepper production, which was
an attractive commodity in pre-industrial markets in Europe. They
established a very strong commercial relationship between India and other
foreign nations. St Thomas Christians were considered a community,
which maintained high standards in the art of war. The kings of Kerala
regarded them as a prominent social group and respected and protected
their rights and privileges.
With the conversion of some of the untouchables, outcastes and lower
caste groups to Christianity there arose from the 16th century the modern
social awakening of the oppressed groups in India. Their entry into the
Christian communities provided opportunities for education, new
occupations and a life with personal dignity and social acceptance. The
Madras Native Christian Association in its report in 1893 stated:
Christianity has wrought miracles in our midst. It has lifted many of us from the
mire of social degradation; it has enlightened us, liberated us from the trammels
of superstition and custom and has planted in us the instincts of a free and noble
humanity.
Although caste spirit and caste loyalties exist among many of the Christian
groups, these groups projected a model of a new kind of human fellowship
where Brahmins (the high caste) and other castes came together with the
outcastes for worship. These Christian congregations exploded the spiritual
sanction of the caste structure and proved to be a source for humanizing
the cultural ethos and liberating the social structure with the result that
the Hindu community itself started the process of re-interpreting its cultural
values and liberating its own social structure.
The Christian gospel was a source for humanization. One of the
important things that the Christian missions emphasized was the
humanization of life in all aspects of all people. They struggled to arouse
public opinion on the condition of the orphans, widows, lepers,
untouchables, infant girls and women. The Serampore trio, for example,
struggled to concretise the Bengali intelligentsia about the evils of
infanticide and sati. This led to the work of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, which
214
strengthened the reform bill of Governor General William Bentick to

abolish the practice of sati in 1829.
Christian missionaries were instrumental in the cultural revitalization
of the country for which the Serampore Mission played a pivotal role. India
had a great culture and the cultural philosophy of the Serampore Mission
was to revitalize and modernize Indian civilization and languages and
assimilate Christian values into the Indian cultural complex. In order to
achieve this aim, the Serampore mission studied the popular languages of
India and translated the whole or part of the Bible into them.
Carey completed the Bengali translation of Mahabharata and Ramayana
in 1802, and in 1818 published Samachar Darpan, a Bengali newspaper.
Carey was also the pioneer in advocating a modern education system for
India through the Indian languages and in 1814 he proposed a plan for
imparting the knowledge of European sciences among the Indians. His
plan was to introduce primary and higher education in Indian languages
and to make them accessible to all Indians.
The cultural renaissance of Bengal in the 19th century marked the
beginning of the awakening of the people of India to a new sense of human
dignity and the emergence of a new cultural identity. The Orientals and
the Serampore missionaries appreciated the ancient values of Indian culture
and they emphasized that Hinduism and Hindu society could be rejuvenated
from within, creating a viable atmosphere for the new intelligentsia of Bengal
to come into positive interaction with Christian values and tradition and to
search for a new cultural and spiritual identity for Indian society.
Hinduism, with its numerous gods as a manifestation of the Divine,
was confronted by the Christian tradition of radical monotheism, and this
Christian-Hindu encounter started happening in Bengal and other places
from the 18th century, which challenged Hinduism to re-emphasize and
bring to the front the affirmation of the Ultimate Reality behind the plurality
of manifestation and representation of the Divine in the complex tradition
of Hinduism as depicted in the Upanishads.
The cultural interaction between Christianity and Hinduism came to
fruition in Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) who started a debate on
society and religion in the full awareness of the rich heritage of India. He
manifested a spirit of emancipation from the social and religious bondages,
and also infused a sense of creativity into the modern intellectual history of
215
India. He put aside the exclusive appeal of traditional Hinduism to mystical

spirituality and metaphysical reasoning. He incorporated reason, logic and
openness into his discussions on religion and society, and tried to demolish
the dogmatic approach of religion. Therefore Roy inaugurated the onset of
renascent Hinduism, which tries to fulfil the human instinct for spirituality
not by renunciation and withdrawal from the society but by the moral and
social dimensions of human community in their temporal existence. To
Roy, religion became an instrument for regeneration; he felt the irresistible
challenge of Christianity, and affirmed that the doctrines of Christ are
more conducive to moral principles and better adopted for the use of rational
beings than any others.
In 1820 Roy published, The Precepts of Jesus: The Guide to Peace and
Happiness, which contained extracts mostly from the first three Gospels of
the New Testament covering the ethical teachings of Christ. So, Roy began
to acknowledge Jesus as part of the spiritual foundations of modern Indian
civilization. Roy makes morality the essence of religion, and the commitment
to moral principles as part of the adoration of God. So, in Roy, Hinduism
was beginning to formulate its self-image as the basis for the ethical existence
of human life.
Keshub Chandra Sen (1838-84), one of the greatest Indian reformers
of his time, had a different contribution. He emphasized that for political,
social and moral regeneration, India should look to Christ. For Sen,
forgiveness and self-sacrifice are the two cardinal principles of Christian
ethics. He said: To stimulate you to a life of self-denial, I hold up to you
the cross on which Jesus died. Mahatma Gandhi emphasized the cross of
Christ and its principles of forgiving, suffering and redeeming love as the
path toward the fulfilment of human destiny of individuals and
nation. Christianity challenged the renascent Hinduism in the social visions
of Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekanda, Mahatma Gandhi and
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan who sought to integrate to the core of Hinduism
the concept of human person, equality among the individuals and groups
irrespective of caste or sex. To many, Christianity became a part of the new
historical process in India. K M Banerjee, Pandita Ramabai Saraswati,
Brahmabandhab Upadhyaya, N V Tilak and others mainly sought in Christ
and Christianity the fulfilment of their social values for India.
Pandita Ramabai Saraswati (1858-1922) was the first liberated woman
216
in modern India and the first woman reformer of Indian renascence. After
her conversion she said, I was comparatively happy that I found a religion
which gave its privileges equally to men and women, there was no distinction of
caste, colour or sex in it. Pandita Ramabai, like Goreh, was a Chitpavan
Brahmin. As a child she became a noted Sanskrit scholar through the teaching
of her father Anant Sastri. After his death, she rapidly achieved fame as a
woman pandit. After a happy, but tragically brief, married life she became
even more famous as a pioneer of womens rights The friendship she formed
with Keshub Chandra Sen and other leading reformers enabled her to become
a member of Prarthana Samaj when she went to Poona. In Poona she came
in contact with the Wantage Sisters, and in 1853 she visited their
community in England. While in England, she received baptism and
became convinced that the position of Samaj was untenable and only in
Christ she could find certainty.4
The Christian
Renaissance
Gospel
and
the
Indian
During the period of renaissance, there emerged a number of outstanding

Hindu leaders who were strongly influenced by the teaching of Jesus Christ,
and they considered Jesus as the key to Indias progress. However, many of
them were reluctant to join the Christian faith, and they had their own views
and opinions about Christianity. These individuals fall into three categories:
first, those who admired Jesus Christ, but were not personally committed to
Him; second, Hindus who were intensely committed to Christ, but did not
become Christians; and third, Hindus who became Christians, but held the
view that by becoming a Christian, they did not cease being Hindus.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833)
It is interesting to note that we do not turn to any Christian to find the
pioneer of a line of theological enquiry, but a famous Hindu who came into
contact with the Serampore missionaries. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a
Bengali Brahmin who has been called the prophet of Indian nationalism
and a pioneer of liberal reform of Hindu religion and Hindu society. Finding
no satisfaction at home for his religious desire, he set off at an age of fifteen
and wandered as far as Tibet. He had studied Persian and Arabic and became
familiar with the faith of Islam; this strongly influenced him in the direction
217
of the unity of God and the meaninglessness of idol worship. A turning

point took place in 1811 when he was the unwilling witness of the sati of
his brothers wife. This incident made him vow to devote his life to overthrow
this and similar abuses in society.
Two main sources of inspiration were the Upanishads and the moral
teaching of Jesus. He instinctively felt that love of God and love of ones
fellow men are the two pillars for a noble life. He felt that love of God was
not sufficiently evident in the Hindu practice. He turned to the study of
the Bible and found in Jesus teaching which, in its simplicity and beauty,
appeared ideally suited to transform the minds and hearts of people, in
particular the words,
Do to others all what you would have them do to you, this sums up the Law and
the Prophets (Matthew 7:12).
In 1815 he wrote a letter to Marshmann, one of the Serampore trio that,

The consequence of my long and uninterrupted search in religious truths has been
that I found the doctrine of Christ more conducive to inculcate moral principles
and better adapted to the use of rational beings than any other that has come to my
knowledge.
Raja Ram Mohan Roys study of Christianity led him to publish, The
Precepts of Jesus, the Guide to Peace and Happiness, a book in 1820 to help
people avoid getting side-tracked by historical and dogmatic questions,
and separate the moral teaching of Jesus in the New Testament from other
matter contained therein. Marshmann, of Seramapore responded to
the book in the editorial page of his journal, The Friend of India No XX
(February 1820), commenting critically on the manner in which only a
part of the Gospels was published, and said that it may greatly injure the
cause of truth. In reply to this, Roy published an Appeal to the Christian in
Defence of the Precepts of Jesus by a Friend of Truth.
Responding to this, Marshmann published in Friend of India No. XXIII
(May 1820) his Remarks on Certain Observations in an Appeal and
followed it in the Friend of India Quarterly Series No I (September 1820)
with his Observations on Certain Ideas contained in the Introduction to the
Precepts of Jesus etc. Roy replied in a Second Appeal to the Christian Public in
Defence of the Precepts of Jesus. In 1822 Marshmann came out with A Defence
of the Deity and Atonement of Jesus Christ in reply to Ram Mohan Roy of
Calcutta.5 To this, Roy responded in 1823 with his Final Appeal to the
Christian Public in Defence of the Precepts of Jesus. The first appeal is 18 pages
218
long, the second 112 and the third nearly 200.6 In 1830 Ram Mohan
sailed for England, which brought him great fame and popularity. He hoped
to return to India but died in Bristol in 1833. The exchange between
Marshmann and Roy may be seen partly as the struggle of modern India to
define the truth and meaning of Jesus Christ in terms of Indian life and
thought, and partly the witness of Christ to a segment of the Indian mind.7
Mahatma Phule (Jotiba Phule) (1827-90)
Jotiba Phule was another person who was attracted by the teaching of Jesus,
but not committed to Him. Jotiba was a mali by caste; he was a Shudra.
His father had become famous for raising flowers (Phule means: flowers).
During his student days, he came in contact with Christian missionaries.
He came to know that Jesus taught that by birth all human beings are
equal and that a mans rank and position are not determined by his birth
and his caste, but by his virtues and vices. He saw that the great distinction
was not between Brahmins and non-Brahmins, but between men and
animals. He realized that the first rule of truthful behaviour was to admit
that all men and women are born equal and free and entitled to enjoy equal
rights and privileges. From then on, he spent his time in the promotion of
truth as seen in the teachings of Christ.
Phule founded the Society of Truth-Seekers (Satyasodhaka Samaja). He
was a man of action; he started the first school for Hindu girls in Pune in
1851. Phule fought the Brahmanism system, but he was never hostile to
Brahmans personally. His ideas and programmes were later taken over by
Karmavir Bhaurao Patil who in 1819 founded an education society for the
uplift of Shudras and Untouchables, the Rayat Shikhan Samstha.8
Keshub Chandra Sen (1838-84)
Keshub Chandra Sen belonged to one of the most prominent families in
Calcutta. At the age of 22, he joined the Brahmo Samaj and soon became
its leader; later becoming a full-time missionary of the Brahmo Samaj,
living a life of utter dependence on God. Sen was a man of spiritual
fervour and had great oratorical powers. He was a born leader, a champion
of India, and became one of the greatest orators. He was not only a
spokesman for India, but for the whole of Asia, against the brutalities of
the British colonialism and against the contempt with which they treated
219
India and the East. When a Scottish merchant, Scott Moncrief, made a
speech in 1866, and depicted the Indian people as congenial liars, Keshab
took up the challenge and retorted in the same fashion.9 As Keshub became
the leader of the Brahmo Samaj, he became increasingly convinced that
Jesus Christ could supply the spiritual foundation on which the progress,
not only of India, but also of the whole of Asia could be built. Yet to him,
the Christian religion, in the form in which it had been imported from
the West, was unacceptable.
Owing to his great enthusiasm for Christ, many missionaries thought
that he would seek Christian baptism and would be a great influence on
the side of Christianity, while the Hindus thought that he had already
become a Christian. Sen organized Brahmo Samaj very much along the
lines of a Christian church. After the passing of the Brahmo Marriage Act
of 1872, the Samaj stepped out of Hindu society. Sen introduced ritual
practices into the Samaj. Ram Mohan Roy had been strongly opposed to
ritualism. But Sen in his later Christ in the New Dispensation developed a
system of asceticism, rituals and sacraments, including baptism and a form
of Holy Communion in which the elements were rice and water.
Sen was a controversial figure in his own time. Many Hindus considered
him as a Christian while most Christians thought of him as eclectic. Many
considered him as the greatest Indian of his time, who came more and
more under Christs spell and responded to him in his own way. Christ
became the centre of his life, but he steadily refused to allow that thinking
to be forced into the western mould. Sen conforms to an identifiable pattern
of a Hindu seeker, who is like the one who found a pearl of great prize but
was unwilling to sell all that he had in order to buy it.10
K C Sen made a distinctive contribution to the religious thinking in
India. He came to Brahmo Samaj leadership and was the founder of the
Church of the New Dispensation. Sen represented within neo-Hinduism
a movement away from the rationalism of Ram Mohan Roy and the Vedic
Brahmanism of Debendranath Tagore to a new appreciation by Bhakti
mysticism, yogic discipline, invocation of divine names and incarnational
theology.11 He was also convinced of the harmony of religions. His was a
devotion to Jesus Christ dissociated from historical Christianity and
interpreted it as the source of a creative religion of the Spirit. The
theological contribution of Sen was, first, to lead the country and
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Hinduism itself in some degree into the discipleship of Christ;12 second,

to introduce Jesus Christ to many Indians, some of whom came to a
fuller vision and commitment to him while going along the line laid
down by Keshub; 13 and third, to produce some original seminal ideas
like his doctrines of Divine Humanity and a National Church, later finding
fuller expression in the search for an indigenous Christology and
ecclesiology by Indian Church leaders.14
Nehemiah Goreh (1825-95)
Nilakantha Sattri Goreh, who adopted the name Nehemiah Goreh, belonged
to a Chitpavan Brahman family from Maharashtra but grew up in Benares
where he was carefully trained in the strict ways of Saivite orthodoxy. His
theological independence led him to transfer his loyalty to the Vaishnavite
tradition, thus showing his capacity for bold action in search of religious
truth. It was through William Smith, a CMS missionary, that Goreh made
contact with Christianity. After a long and difficult period of reasoning,
doubting, and much opposition from his family including beating, drugging
and abduction of his wife, he was baptized in 1849 as Nehemiah and was
admitted to the church.15
Nehemiah Gorehs conversion to Christ was the culmination of a process
which began with his being much struck by the beauty of Christs teaching,
and example, especially the doctrines of the Sermon on the Mount. Goreh
visited England in 1853 as tutor to the young Maharaja Dhulup Singh,
and while in England he attended some theological lectures at the CMS
Institution at Islington. On his return to India in 1855 he was directly
instrumental in contacting a number of highly educated young men
Hindu, Muslim and Parsi. He was also instrumental in the conversion of
Maulavi Safdar Ali from Islam to Christianity. Two years later, he moved
further in an Anglo-Catholic direction and in 1867 he severed his connection
with CMS. In 1869 he was ordained a deacon, and the following year he
became a priest. He believed that the most effective way of carrying out
evangelistic work in India was through an ascetic religious brotherhood. In
1876, Goreh sailed again to England in order to serve his novitiate at Cowley.
He never became a professed member of the Society, St John the Evangelist
(SSJE), but remained as a novice of the society till his death in 1895.16
Goreh published his best-known work, Shaddarshan Darpan, or Hindu
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Philosophy examined by a Benares Pandit. The title literally means Mirror

of the Vedanta, i.e, the six traditional Hindu systems of philosophy
Samkya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisesika, Mimamsa, Vedanta. The English
translation, modified to A Mirror of the Hindu Philosophical System, A Rational
Refutation of the Hindu Philosophical System, was published in 1862. This
book has remained the best Christian critique of Hindu philosophy and
apologetic for the Christian doctrine of the Triune God over against monism
and pantheism and of sin and redemption against ignorance and liberation
through illumination.17
As a Christian, Goreh founded the Bhakti cult of Krishna, both in its
traditional form and in the form received by Tukaram and Chaitanya, quite
inadequate in his view in providing a path to God, and the basis for moral
regeneration of human persons and society. In this, as well as in other matters,
he was fighting against the tendency of the Brahmo Samaj under K C Sen to
revive the bhakti cult of Vaishanvism within its religion of Hindu theism.
Through his tracts, Theism and Christianity, the Brahmos: Their Ideal of Sin,
and Atonement, and the letter he wrote to Pandita Ramabai who was settling
down into Brahmo theism as her spiritual home, Goreh enters into disputation
with the Brahmo Samaj as a system in order to show its inadequacy. His
thesis, like that of Lal Behari Day of Bengal, is that Brahmo faith in one
Creator God with a personal moral purpose for the world is not present in
Hinduism, nor is it the result of rational thought but is derived from biblical
revelation: that therefore the Brahmos have to choose between accepting in
full the revelation of Christ as well as the ethics of Christianity on the one
hand and reverting to the monism, polytheism and moral corruptions of
traditional Hinduism on the other.18
Just as he moved from Saivism to Vaishnavism in his early Hindu period,
as a Christian believer he shifted his loyalty from the Low Church doctrines
of CMS to the High Church doctrines of Anglican Catholicism. Goreh was
critical of extreme Protestantism and Catholicism. The call to the ascetic
life of religious communities captivated his mind. He took an almost totally
negative approach to the teachings of Bhagavad Gita , Bhagavada, etc, but
he says, Yet they have taught us something of ananyabhakti (undivided devotion
to God) of vairagya (giving up the world), of namratha (humility), of kshama
(forbearance) etc, which enable us to appreciate the precepts of Christianity.19
The dialogue and encounter with K C Sen and others continued till the
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end of his life. At first he had great hopes that Brahmos might yield to his
arguments, but results were disappointing. Goreh was, however,
instrumental in the conversion of the greatest of all Indian Christian women,
Pandita Ramabai.
Pandita Ramabai Saraswati (1858-1922)
Pandita Ramabai has done more for the emancipation of women in India
than any other person The Indian Church has had many women of faith.
Although a great number of them were involved in Christian ministry,
very little is known of them. Ramabai is one of the most popular Indian
missionaries; she is considered a builder and mother and a missionary
model person of modern India. Ramabai was a high caste Brahmin woman.
Brahmins are privileged Hindus, and the religious communicators and
upholders of Hindu faith, and are believed to be at the end of their
incarnations. She was born at Mulhanjee near Karkal in South Kanara
State in India in April 1858. Her father was a good scholar in the Sanskrit
Shastras, gave his daughter a good education in Sanskrit and taught her
the Dharma Shastras. Ramabai spent most of her childhood and youth in
pilgrimages with her parents, brother and sister. In 1874, her parents
died within two months of each other due to great famine while they
were living in Madras Presidency; a few months later her sister too died
due to cholera. Ramabai and her brother travelled for six years to
various parts of India, and in 1880 her brother too died leaving her alone
in the world.
Ramabai became known as a reformer and lecturer all over India. She
was honoured with the titles Panditha and Saraswathi by the senate of
Calcutta University. Ramabai married Babu Bipin Dshari Das Madhavi, a
Sudra (low caste) man, who possessed a Masters degree in arts and a degree
in law. By this time she had lost her faith in traditional Hinduism and had
become a Brahma Samajist (a reform movement in Hinduism). Her husband
died two years after her marriage, leaving her with a baby, Manorama. She
then moved to Pune and settled there.
Ramabai was touched by the miserable condition of thousands of child
widows who never knew their husbands, and she was determined to ameliorate
their condition and suffering. She established an institution known as
Arya Mahila Samaj in many large cities of India, the purpose of which was to
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educate Hindu women in Hindu scriptures and liberate them. She wrote a
book called Sthree Dharma Neeti (morals for women) to instruct Hindu women
how to help themselves and be educated to become women of worth.
In 1883 Ramabai went to England for studies so as to become eligible
for social work among women. There she met the Sisters of Wantage
(Roman Catholic Sisters) through Miss Harford in Pune, and became a
Christian. It was when she was with the Wantage sisters that she got the
idea of a rescue home for women, and started raising funds for establishing
a school in India for high caste Hindu women. While she was in England,
she joined the Cheltenham Ladies College as a student and a lecturer in
Sanskrit. In 1886 she proceeded to America, studied the Kindergarten
system, and travelled to many cities in the United States. She founded the
American Ramabai Association, and returned to India via China and Japan.
Ramabai landed in Calcutta in 1889, soon moved to Pune, and
opened the Sharada Sadan in Bombay the following year, which was then
shifted to Pune. Sharada Sadan was an institution for the sole purpose of
sheltering, training and educating child-widows from the high caste
Hindu community. Sharada Sadan continued to prosper, and she visited
a number of North Indian cities and rescued child widows and orphan
girls and women. Later she established a vast settlement known as
Mukti Mission, at Kedgaon, and continued to work for the welfare of
women in India. She died in April 1922.
Panditha Ramabai was a social worker at heart; physical, mental,
emotional and spiritual emancipation of Hindu women was her goal.
Ramabai was a woman of great Christian maturity. One sees her change in
attitude to the caste system. Although she started an educational mission
initially for high caste women, as her faith grew she brought all types of
women from all castes and creeds. Ramabai was a woman of great courage.
She had the courage to marry a Sudra man, which was unthinkable in
those days. Crossing the sea was another taboo, and she went to England
and America in this background.
Ramabai Mukti Mission was one of the rare missions where foreign
missionaries worked under an Indian, which was a very difficult proposition
in those days. Mukti was and is an ashram; the mode of worship in the
ashram church was with Indian food served to both Indians and foreigners
alike seated on low wooden stools in the dining hall, the Indian dress made
of lowly cotton woven mostly by mission women of Mukti.
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The Indian Church:

Its Spiritual Values and Theology
Many ancient Christian churches had developed their own particular
individuality, with a worship form, structure and discipline peculiar to
each, especially in the theological and spiritual vision that emerged in each
of these churches in the course of time. The Indian Church is one such
ancient church. It developed its own way, with its long tradition and life in
India. In the early Indian Church there was the Archdeacon of All India,
and the yogam (an assembly of the clergy and the laity). It also had a unique
theological vision in which it developed an implicit incarnational theology,
a lived theology of other faiths and a distinctive practical theology.
Unfortunately this theological vision was lost with the arrival of the
Portuguese in India and their conquering concept of theology. They saw
the work of the missions and evangelism in terms of military operations,
line of defence, plans for attack as if we were waging war against other
believers20 as seen in the missionary reports of the 16th and 17th centuries.
The 17th century saw the advent of Robert De Nobili in 1606, who
began his great mission in the very heart of Tamil literature and the seat of
Hindu culture. It was his keen desire to present Jesus Christ and His gospel
to the high caste Hindus. He started an experiment of what we may call
indigenization. He learnt two of the Dravidian languages, Tamil and Telugu,
and classical Sanskrit as well. He adopted the Indian Sanyasi attire, shaved
his head, leaving only a tuft, pierced his ears and wore earrings and allowed
his followers to have on their head a kudumi (tuft) and sacred thread.
Although his experiment soon lost its effect, it should be considered a great
adventure of zeal in the propagation of the gospel in India.
Robert de Nobili was the first to seriously take the initiative for a
positive encounter with Hinduism. He pioneered the study of Sanskrit and
Tamil and started the essential task of evolving a theological vocabulary for
Indian languages. Although some of his successors (especially
Constantinneous Joseph Beschi, the Italian, who mastered the Tamil
language and succeeded in writing some Tamil books and literature) tried
to carry the work forward, the approach of other missionaries, both Roman
Catholics and Protestants, questioned his methods and followed a much
more conservative and apologetic approach, and their general attitude was
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a one-sided appreciation of ones own religion and culture.

A second approach, which has been dominant since the 18th century,
was the descriptive or neutral attitude of the handful of Oriental scholars
who translated the scriptures and established the basic foundation for a
widespread understanding of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths. A third
approach is that of the syncretists whose inclusiveness contrasted with
missionary exclusiveness and polemics. For quite a long period many
missionaries confused the Christian gospel with western ideas and thought
of Indian Christian theology as nothing but a translation of western doctrine
using Indian languages or categories. There was little recognition of the
fact that Hinduism itself would help provide a new understanding of the
gospel, an attitude that started changing only toward the close of the
19th century. National awakening and Indian Renaissance paved the way
for many missionaries and Indian Christians to come forward as champions
of indigenous movements. So some of the indigenous movements like the
Calcutta Christo Samaj and National Church of Madras gave great impetus
to indigenous theology and spirituality.
There were a few pioneering Indian theologians. K M Banerjee
published his Arian Witness 8 in 1875, which highlighted the striking
parallel between the Old Testament (particularly the Book of Genesis)
and the Vedas, which he believed demonstrated that Christianity far from
being a foreign religion was really the fulfilment of original Hinduism.
A S Appaswamy Pillai found in Rig Veda an unmistakeable proclamation
of one God behind the many and he was also able to point out what he
believed to be clear predictions of Christ in the Vedas. Bengali Catholic
nationalist Brahmabandhav Upadyaya followed the same line of thought
at the beginning of his theological thinking, and he proceeded to lay the
foundations for a Vedanta-based Christian theology, which scholars like
Johanns and Danday developed later. Another prophetic Christian,
Sadhu Sunder Singh who appeared at the beginning of the 20th century
made a tremendous worldwide appeal as the prophet of Indian Christian
mysticism. Bishop A J Appaswamy, a versatile scholar and churchman
was attracted to the mysticism of the Sadhu, which he promoted through
his scholarly writings.
India has produced a number of outstanding Hindu Renaissance
thinkers in the area of Christianity during the early 20th century. They
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were R M Roy (the moral reforming Christ of the West for reform in India),
K C Sen (Navavidhan or The Church of the New Dispensation, reformed
Hinduism with Christ as centre), P C Mazoomdar (Oriental Christ),
Ramakrishna and Vivekananda (advaitic experience of the avatar of Christ),
Mahatma Gandhi (Christ the karmayogi offering himself for others),
S Radhakrishnan (Christianity subjected to the advaitic world religion)
and Subha Rao (Christ-centred Hinduism).21 Some of the Christian pioneers
of indigenous Christianity are K M Banerjee, Parani Andi, A S Appaswamy
(Vedic Christianity, National Church), Nehemiah Goreh (Rational refutation
of Hinduism), Brahmabandhav Upaddyaya (Vedantic Thomism and
Hindu Church), Sadhu Sunder Singh and A J Appaswamy (Bhakti Marga
and Yogic vision).
There were liberal Christian thinkers including Slater, Farquhar
(Crown of Hinduism), W Miller, Bernard Lucas (Simultaneous evolution
of religions, conversions or not); Catholic Vedantists including P Johanns,
G Dandoy (The Christ through Vedanta), Protestant neo-orthodoxy
thinkers including Karl Barth and Kramers discontinuity ideas
on evangelism; the dissident voices (Rethinking Group) in Madras,
including P Chenchia (New Creation), V Chakkarai (Christology of
the Spirit), and radicals including M C Parekh, Hindu Christianity
and Churchless Christianity.22
During the last four or five decades a new spiritual theological
consciousness has gradually surfaced in Indian Christian literature. It was the
Protestants who took the initiative in launching the contemporary movement,
and they formed societies to promote this kind of study, particularly
emphasizing aspects of religion and society and started publishing journals
like Religion and Society. Another movement which helped to boost Indian
Christian literary effort was the Christian Ashram Movement, which owes its
origin to the Protestant initiatives, but the Roman Catholics have since
associated with it in a big way. Some important names associated with it are
S Jesudason, Murray Rogers, Sadhu Mathaichen (K I Mathai), K K Chandy;
Sisters Carol Graham, Edith Neve and Rachel Joseph; and Roman Catholics
like Monchanin (Parama Arubi Anandam), Le Saux (Abishiktananda),
BedeGriffths, Francis Acharya, and Sisters Vandana and Amalorpavadas.
Contemporary Indian Christian literature reflects different currents
and undercurrents. Three major trends and approaches stand outthe
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spiritual-contemplative, the philosophical-theological, and the sociopolitical. The late Swami Abhshiktananda was the Acharya of the first of
these trends and the Ashram movement as whole, and people like Jesudason
and Sadhu Mathaichen have contributed immensely to this particular aspect
of Indian Christianity. Raymon Panikkar seems to take the lead in the second
approach, the philosophical-theological. Paul Devanadan, and the Christian
Institute of Study on Religion and Society represent the third approach.
M M Thomas and Sebastian Kappen were powerful prophets of this. It is
gratifying to note that a number of both Roman Catholic and Protestant
theologians have taken such bold steps and Indian theology has certainly
shown signs of maturity.
Christian Saints and Sages of India

India is a nation of saints and sages who originate from many different
religions. This is the case with Indian Christianity as well. There are a
number of saintly persons from different backgrounds who have become
well-known household names like Sr Alphonsa, Fr Chavara, Mar Gregorios
of Parumala and Mar Gregorios (the pioneer of Jacobitism in India),
Mar Ivanios (the founder of the Syro-Malankara Catholic community),
and Mariam Thresia, all from Kerala; Aaron, Samuel Azariah, Devasahayam
Neelakanta Pillai (all from Tamil Nadu); and, of course, Mother Teresa.
One of the important names that come to our mind is that of
Mother Teresa who in her lifetime became a one-woman relief agency.
She was able to gather around her all the openhearted of the world in
maintaining groups to help the old, the hungry, the crippled, the homeless,
the debilitated, the rejected, and she succeeded in enlisting their support.
She has become the symbol of the world for all those selfless nuns and
social workers in India who devote their time, day and night, to aid and
protect the helpless and the needy.
St Thomas, the Apostle of Christ, has become as much a part of India
as any other saint. His life and work in the northwest, southwest, and
southeast of India were very beneficial to both the rulers and the ruled, as
can be seen in the many books on Indian Christianity especially in the
Acts of Thomas or the Ramban Song. Many a foreigner has come to India
and chosen this country for their motherland. Among these was Thomas
Kinayi, the pioneer who arrived on the Malabar Coast and won the trust
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and praise of the king in the early centuries. He was considered the
forefather of the Knanaya community of Kerala. There were a number of
holy men who came to India from the Middle East before the western
church established its hold on the Kerala church. Some great pioneering
men of goodwill and scholar-soldiers for God such as St Francis Xavier,
Rudolph Acquaviva the martyr, Robert de Nobili, St John de Brito and
William Carey arrived in India during the latter half of the second
millennium.
St Francis Xavier, considered by many the most zealous, the most
generous, and the most world-beloved of the long line of Jesuit saints was
yet another St Paul, changing the destiny of Christianity in the whole of
the East. De Nobili had a bold and unique method in his missionary work.
His appearance clad in the saffron robe of the sadhu with sandal paste on
his forehead and the cord on his body from which hung a cross was the
starting point of a new era of missionary enterprise. With his extensive
study of Hinduism, he was convinced that Christ should have a place in
India without the benefit of hat, trousers and boots. St John de Britto,
another Jesuit, was acclaimed a great student of Tamil writers.
Ringeltaube was one of the greatest missionaries India has seen. When
the great famine broke out in Myladi, he was able to get orders from the
government exempting Christians from taxes. When hundreds of Shanars
wanted to become Christians to gain from these taxes, Ringeltaube refused
to accept them into the Christian fold, which throws light on his character.
Although William Carey, the man with great missionary dreams was
persecuted by the British and had to starve, along with his wife, sister, and
five children for long periods, he achieved so much, in translating and
printing the Bible in several languages, in spreading secular education, in
setting up Serampore College and community, to mention some of his
achievements. He is often called the father of Indian missionary work.
The Roman Catholic Church has started beatification processes in India.
When Pope Paul John Paul visited India in 1986, he declared Fr Chavara
Kuriakose Elias Blessed, the co-founder of the congregation of the
Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI), who is remembered for his
pioneering efforts in starting religious houses, seminaries, institutions for
secular education, printing and publishing. So also, Sister Alphonsa, the
Clarist nun whose brief lifespan of thirty-six years was characterized by
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love, service, sacrifice, illness and suffering. The saint Parumala

Kochuthirumeni (Geevarghese Mar Gregoris) has a special place in the hearts
of the people of Kerala. His work of evangelization, education and social
work spread beyond Malankara to British Malabar, Goa and Ceylon.
Thousands of devotees throng to his tomb on 2nd November every year.
There are a number of other names as well. It would be unfair to
omit the names of Pandita Ramabai Saraswati, the pioneer of social service
and female education; and Sadhu Sunder Singh of the Sikh community;
one of the most well known and most travelled Indian evangelists whose
Himalayan excursions to Nepal and Tibet to carry on the message of
Christ remind us one of the first apostles of Jesus. The tireless reformer,
Abraham Malpan whose zeal led to the founding of the Mar Thoma
Church; Sadhu Kochu Kunju, the quiet and unassuming servant of God
in Kerala; Graham Staines and his two boys and wife and daughter; and
those Telugu, Tamil, Bengali and Ranchi-based holy men and women,
Indian by birth or by choice, who have acquired a special place in the
hearts of Indian Christians. Although this listing of saints and sages of
Indian Christianity is neither representative nor exhaustive, the lives of
these people reflect the mental anguish, joys and struggle with the moral
order of the Indian Church through the centuries.
The Emerging Indian Church
The emergence of Indias nationalist movement was the most prominent
feature of Indias history in the first half of the 20th century. Seeds of this
movement took roots during the later years of the previous century, primarily
due to the spread of English education and western civilization. With the
foundation of the Indian National Congress in 1888 it became an organized
movement. But with the exception of a man such as Kali Charan Banerjee,
a lawyer from Bengal who was both a keen Christian and a prominent
member of the Congress in its early years, not many Christians took a
direct and active role in the political struggle. However, a few Christian
leaders felt the stirrings of national pride. Lal Bahadur Dey (an ordained
Presbyterian minister in Bengal during the period of Duff ) demanded equal
status with the Europeans.
A similar tendency was expressed in the south of India in 1857, when
three young converts in Tinnevelly, Muthiah Pillai, Dhanukoti Raju and
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Manakavala Perumal Pillai, refused to be parted from their kudumis (hair

tufts) before baptism, in spite of severe pressure from the missionaries.23
We also find in the second half of the 19th century a greater inclination
among the converts to find ways of expressing their Christian faith.
Krishnaras Sangles composition of Marathi lyrics in Indian metre and
Vishnupant Karmarkars Christian use of Indian oratorio form are some
examples.24 The most outstanding literary fruit is seen in Narayana Vamana
Tilak (1862-1919). His Marathi poetry inspired by personal devotion to
Jesus Christ and also intense love of his country begins with Priyankara
Hindusthana.25 In his specifically Christian work he baptized into Christ
the lyrics he had inherited from Tukaram and the Hindu bhaktis.
The early 20th century also saw the emergence of independent sanyasis.
Tilak himself resigned his position in the America Marathi Mission and
spent the last twenty months of his life as a sanyasi, as he felt it would be a
more natural way of bringing the Christian message to the Hindus than
the conventional method. B C Sircar of Bengal (who worked in the
Young Mens Christian Association) practised yoga in his later years and set
up a Christian shrine at Puri (one of the seven sacred places of Hinduism)26 .
But the most famous Christian Sadhu who caught the public imagination
both in India and abroad was Sadhu Sunder Singh.
The early 20th century also saw the emergence of yet another type of
work though voluntary organizations such as the Young Mens Christian
Association (YMCA) and the Student Christian Movement (SCM). The
contributions of V S Azariah, K T Paul and V Santiago cannot be
overestimated. Several Indian missionary societies such as the
Indian Missionary Society of Tinnevelly (1903) and the National Missionary
Society, an interdenominational society (1905), came into existence.
Another development that took place during the second half of the 19th
century and the early 20th century was the revival of the ashram movement,
an ancient Indian institution. Originally, it meant a hermitage or a group of
ascetics living their religious life together in some quiet place, usually under
the leadership of a sage. The ashram seemed to be an institution which
Christians could use to express their religious ideas, one which Indians would
appreciate. In fact there were already such religious communities of the Western
type existing in India such as the Society of St John the Evangelist (Cowley
Fathers) at Pune (1870), and the Oxford Mission Brotherhood of the
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Epiphany at Calcutta (1881). Since the First World War, a number of ashrams
sprang up in different parts of India such as Christu Kula Ashram at Tirupattur
in the North Arcot district in the Madras Residency (1921), Christa Seva
Sanga (1921) and Christa Prema Seva Sangha (1934) in and around Pune,
and Christavashram Manganam(1934) in Kerala.
We may also note that an attempt is being made to use Indian style of
architecture in building churches,27 which are but few and far between.
Attempts are also being initiated for indigenization of worship.
The Church and the Electronic Media
Print media had made early inroads into the church in India, but electronic
media, cinema, radio, television and other modern communication
techniques are only late entrants in this field. As is the case with electronic
media like radio, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting controls
television. The involvement of the church in these areas has remained mostly
at the level of training and production of audio and video cassettes. It seems
that among all the religious denominations, Christians alone have attempted
to set up media centres. The very institutional set-up of the church and its
interest in the proclamation of faith in modern ways led the church to
establish media centres.
Chitrabani, Calcutta and the Xavier Institute of Communications (XIC),
Mumbai were the first to focus on training personnel for the electronic media.
In the late 1980s, Chitrabani with St Xaviers College, Calcutta ventured
into the Educational Research Programme and joined the Countrywide Class
Room (CWCR) of the University Grants Commission. Kalabhawan of Kochi,
Kerala started off as a cultural centre in the mid 1990s under the guardianship
of Fr Abel CMI. This centre excelled in songs, drama, mimicry, comics, and
various other popular art forms and contributed many a star to the Malayalam
film screen. It has recently turned to the electronic media playing a vital role
in the cultural and electronic media scenes in Kerala.
A number of regional centres mushroomed rapidly in the early 1970s,
but none of these centres have made any major contribution to filmmaking
in the country. However, several of the centres produce regularly for radio
stations in India and other stations in Asia. Jeevan TV channel is probably
the biggest, the most ambitious and latest venture by the Indian Church
in the field of electronic media. Although it was started initially as a
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Roman Catholic venture, later it was expanded into an organization

incorporating all Episcopal churches in Kerala. A number of other
Christian TV channels have also sprung up in recent times.
The efforts of the church in media education are commendable, and
the purpose of such education is to make the public critically conscious of
the ways in which the media can influence values and lifestyle. The church
may be the only group involved in it in a somewhat organized way. A
recent achievement of the church in India in the media field has been the
founding of the National Institute of Social Communication, Research and
Training (NISCORT) by the Catholic Conference in India, to give
professional training to the clergy and the laity in the media scene.
Introduction of English Education

in the Early 19th Century
The 19th century saw the consolidation of British rule and the impact of
western ideas on the social, political and religious life of India through
the medium of English language. Indian civilization as we know it today
is the effect of English education on Indian culture. Until 1829 Persian
languages continued to be the language in courts of law. When after 1813
funds were set aside for public education there were heated arguments as
to how it should be expended; whether on the classical education in
Sanskrit, Persian or Arabic or on a modern western type of education in
the English language. The prevailing opinion till 1830 was on the side of
the old classical learning. However, there were some who argued that the
old learning was indeed outdated and unsuited to the modern age, and
the only possible medium should be English. As a result, in 1817 in
Calcutta, some Indian and European Anglicists opened a vidyalaya, which
later became known as the Hindu College. Teachers who taught in this
institution were men who had learned rationalist, atheistic philosophy
propounded in 18th century Europe. During this period, the missionaries
of the Church Missionary Society who arrived in Travancore (Kerala)
started teaching English in the Kottayam Syrian Seminary in 1815.
Eventually they started CMS College in Kottayam.
In 1830, Alexander Duff, a young missionary of the Church of Scotland,
was sent to Bengal on an educational mission. Having been given a free
hand to choose his own mode of operation, he decided to put this to
233
Christian use. He wanted to open a school, which would in due course

become a college where all subjects would be taught through the medium
of English, not from a secular point of view as in a Hindu college, but
definitely from the standpoint of the Christian faith, giving the Bible a
place of honour and providing daily Scripture learning in every class. All
but one of the missionaries disagreed with the plan. With the help of
William Carey and the Hindu Reformer Ram Mohan Roy (the founder of
Brahmo Samaj), he opened a school with five pupils. This school later became
an institution of 150 to 200 boys, organized in two departments, one,
English and one Bengali, and the school became very popular. The boys
then passed out to college classes, which became known as the
General Assemblys Institution. Outside his own school Duff made contacts
with students of Hindu College and entered into discourses on various
topics, the result of which was that in 1833 Mohesh Chunder Ghose,
Krishna Mohan Banerjea, Gopinath Nandi and Arundo Chund Mozomdar,
young men of education and high caste, were brought in. The success of
Duff s educational work was a powerful argument to all those who were
trying to persuade the government to promote English education.
It was a turning point in the history of education in India that in 1835,
when the Governor General, Lord Bentinck, issued a decree reversing the
previous policy and declaring that in future Government funds would be
mainly used for imparting a knowledge of English literature and science
through the English language. Another famous statement of policy was the
Educational Despatch of Sir Charles Wood (1854), which laid down the
main lines of the modern system of public education. The Despatch also
proposed a plan to establish a Department of Public Instruction in each
province and universities in the capital cities. Connected with these there
was to be a co-ordinated series of schools, some maintained by the government,
while most were under private management receiving grants-in-aid from the
government, provided that the schools satisfied certain stipulations.
Meanwhile, a number of Christian schools without government grants
carried on secondary education and they followed their own policy. Following
the example of Duff s school in Calcutta, schools were established in other
cities, and this endeavour of the Church of Scotland was the pioneer,
Wilson High School (1832), started by John Wilson, which later grew as
Wilson College. John Anderson founded an institution in (1837), the
234
ancestor of Madras Christian College and its High School. Stephen Hislop
started another one in Nagpur (1844), which later became Hislop College.
Noble College, Machilipatnam (CMS 1842) and St Johns College, Agra
(CMS 1853) developed out of schools founded during this period. Many
other schools and colleges also emerged in various places.
The middle years of the 19th century saw a continued movement
towards Christian unity among the educated classes. Nehemiah Goreh,
the Brahmin Shastri became a Christian (baptized in 1848) and helped
many others to the faith by his books, lectures and conversations. The
mathematician Ram Chandra of Delhi (1852); Vishnupant Bhaskar
Karmakar of Ahmadnagar (1853); Babu Padmanji of Belgaum and Bombay,
an able Christian writer in Marathi (1854); Ganpatrao Raghunath Navalkar,
church leader and outspoken critic of missionary methods in Bombay (1860)
were among others who were part of this movement.28
The Christian Church and Womens Education

One of the activities of the Christian missionaries in the second half of the
19th century was the work among women. Very little had been or could
be done before that period. Child marriage, female infanticide, sati and
(in North India) the purdah system were the order of the day. There was
very little thought given to the emancipation of women. Moreover, since
reading and writing were almost entirely confined to professional dancing
girls, it was not a relevant idea to consider education for respectable women.
When, therefore, Calcutta students in 1831 debated the subject of
education it was considered a revolutionary idea.
Some schools existed through the efforts of missionary women.
Mrs Marshmann of Serampore (1818) and Mrs Wilson of Bombay were
supported by committees of well-wishers, such as the Calcutta School Society
(1819) in India and the Society for Promoting Female Education in the
East,29 formed in London (1834). Miss Cooke, an English lady who later
became Mrs Wilson (not to be confused with Mrs Wilson of Bombay)
came from England to organize schools for girls in Calcutta. Initially there
was great prejudice against female education, which gradually withered. A
number of fathers desired education for their daughters. The earliest were
the Parsees of Bombay. Drinkwater Bethune, a public-spirited civilian and
president of the government Council of Education, together with Pandit
235
Ishvara, Chandra Vidyasagara of the Brahmo Samaj, founded the first school
for high caste girls. In 1854, the missionaries started sending Christian
women to teach girls in the Zenana Hindu families, among whom
Mrs Mullens and Miss Toogoord (an Anglo-Indian lady) played a prominent
role. This was the beginning of permanent Zenana schools, which spread
to other towns, and it became a regular feature of the educational system.
These schools received grants-in-aid from the government, who appointed
female inspectors as well.
In 1857, Duff opened a Christian day school for girls. Two years
later, the American Presbyterian Mission started a girls boarding school
at Dehra Dun, from which came the first female matriculate to Calcutta
University.30 With the progress made through Zenana visitation, a number
of mission societies have established special societies such as the Zenana
Bible and Medical Mission and the Church of England Zenana Missionary
Society (1881). Isabella Thobourn of the Methodist Episcopal Church of
America came to Lucknow in 1870 and founded a school, which eventually
developed into Isabella Thoburn College. Gradually, Zenana schoolwork
came to be carried on in schools in the ordinary sense of the term, and the
number of girls schools increased. Two Christian girls in Bombay,
Miss Malabe Kukde and Mrs Shervantibai Nikambe, became in 1884 the
first Indian girls to pass the matriculation examination to Bombay University.
By the end of the 19th century, womens education was well under way.
Early Pioneers of Christian Writing

in Indian Languages
An English Jesuit Thomas Stephens had the honour of being the pioneer in
Christian writing in Indian languages. He had arrived in Goa in 1579 and
settled in the peninsula of Salsette near the present city of Mumbai. Having
realized the importance of popular vernacular Puranas in the minds of people,
he composed a purana, a long poem narrating the Old and New Testament
stories, in colloquial Marathi mixed with Konkani. Bearing this example in
mind, De Nobili composed in Sanskrit verse, a Life of Our Lady, canticles
for marriage and funerals and a summary of the Christian doctrines in a
hundred Sanskrit slokas. More important were his writings in Tamil, the
most important of which was the large catechism known as Gnanopadesam
(teaching of Knowledge). It is a summary of the Christian doctrine, which
236
he kept revising and enlarging until it grew to five volumes. It is a veritable

Summa Theologica for the Indians.31 Some of his other works included
Gnana Sancheevi (Spiritual Medicine), and a number of controversial books
in which the Hindu doctrines were discussed and refuted, the best known
being Punar-Janmma-aakshepam (Refutation of Rebirth).32 De Nobili is
to be greatly commended for his study and use of Sanskrit and Tamil. It is
to be noted that his attitude to religious Hinduism was entirely negative
and he wrote to refute.33 He further argued and ridiculed the doctrine of
rebirth, karma of the avatar or divine incarnation, without making any
attempt to give them a Christian reinterpretation.34
De Nobili held to a conservative exposition of the Christian faith. In
his Gnanopadesam, twenty-six Prasangals, he repudiated Thomist arguments
for the existence of God and devoted considerable attention to expounding
a non-biblical Mariology and Purgatory, and touched only slightly on the
death of Christ. He made no real attempt to use Hindu terminology and
thought-forms to express the Christian faith.35 His great achievement was
his understanding and adaptation of Hindu customs and ceremonies, his
pioneering study of Sanskrit and Tamil and his initiation of the essential
task of evolving a Christian theological vocabulary for Indian languages.
The Contribution of Missionaries

to Indian Languages
Mastery over languages was central to the spread of the Good News. Though
Jesus preached only in a small geographical area, the church spread all over
the Roman Empire and beyond within a short span of time after the
crucifixion. It was a period when there were many over-enthusiastic Roman
consuls who persecuted leaders of isolated communities, which eventually
led to the need for preserving documents. Early documents from the second
century that have survived all persecutions and war include The Seven Epistles
of St. Ignatius of Antioch, The Refutation and Overthrow of Gnosticism and
Proof of Apostolic Teaching of St Irenaeus.
Learning new languages promoted the spread of Christianity, and it
also contributed significantly to the growth and preservation of many
languages and literary works. A classic example is that of the Armenian
language. In Armenia, shortly after CE 256, Christianity was declared the
religion of the State. By 400 CE, St Mesrop invented the Armenian alphabet
and translated the Bible and Greek writings to the Armenian language.36
237
Latin remained the lingua franca of Christianity for many centuries, and
Greek was transmitted to the moderns through the medieval abbeys. There
was no blind prejudice even against pagan literature. In fact, St Basil the
Great (329-379) of Cappadocico addressed his discourse To our Young Men,
How can they derive benefit from the study of Pagan Literature, absorbing the
good from secular of pagan literature.37
The missionaries who reached India from the 16th century onwards
were quick to learn new languages, and wrote books and standardized
scripts, which evolved new methods of study. They were pioneers in the
introduction of printing, lexicography and inter-linguistics in India.
Modern printing techniques came to India much earlier than many
countries in the West. The missionaries made significant contributions
to practically every Indian language.
The contribution of missionaries to the Tamil language
It is universally accepted that the missionaries played a very active role in
the revival of Tamil letters. It was on the southern and western coasts of
India that many early Europeans landed. They evinced keen interest in
learning the new language, Tamil, and tried to make it intelligible to
future western missionaries. They simplified the script, introduced
punctuation, encouraged writing of prose work, introduced the printing
press, produced Tamil tracts and books, and set up societies for promoting
Tamil work. It has been suggested that A Tamil Catechism (Lisbon c 1550)
is the first known printed book of Tamil in Roman characters, and
Franciscan Joao de villa de Corride is believed to have assisted in its
production. In 1556 Jesuits brought a printing press to Goa for printing
Portuguese tracts for the society and later a set of Malabar characters
was cut. In 1558 the first Tamil translation of Francis Xaviers Doutrina
Christi by Henrique appeared in Tamil script. He also produced a Tamil
grammar and dictionary. Robert de Nobili studied Tamil, Telugu and
Sanskrit and he was the first European scholar of Sanskrit. He was one of
the pioneers in the writing of Tamil prose. Father Constanco who adopted
the Tamil name Viramaamunivar (1680-1747) was a linguist and a creative
poet working towards the development of the language by reintroducing
the pulli and the distinction between long and short o and e. He
composed a grammar of High Tamil, and was the first to write a grammar
238
of Low Tamil (the common dialect); he also compiled several Tamil

dictionaries, a Tamil-Latin-and Latin-Tamil Portuguese dictionary. Beschi
is, however, is the best-known Tamil poet.
The arrival of the Lutheran, Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and his colleague
Heinrich Plutschau in Tranquebar in 1706 saw a further contribution of
the missionaries to language and literature. Within eight months of their
arrival they had mastered the Tamil language, and Ziegenbalg translated
the Bible into Tamil, the very first translation of the Bible into any Indian
language. In addition, he translated many moral books and a dictionary of
Tamil studies was introduced in 1711 at what is now known as the Martin
Luther University in Halle. He further encouraged the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge in London to send a Portuguese printing press to
India and soon he was able to obtain a set of Malabar letters from Germany.
Another German missionary, Christoph Theodosius Walter (1699-1751),
compiled a Tamil-Hebrew dictionary.
The contribution of missionaries to the Bengali language
Christian missionaries contributed immensely in the field of Bengali
language. A Portuguese missionary, Manuel de Assmpsao, wrote Kripar
Shastrer Orthobhed, which was printed in 1743 in Lisbon in Roman
alphabets. The National Library at Calcutta has some of the earliest printed
books in Bengali. Henry Forstars, A Vocabulary in Two Parts (English and
Bengali) was published in 1799. William Carey (1761-1834) was a
prolific translator, linguist and educationist. Carey library in Serampore
contains plenty of archival material. He helped develop Bengali typefaces
and established Serampore Mission (1800) and college in addition to
publishing newspapers and periodicals. The mission also made
contributions to Bengali literature. Carey translated and printed the Bible
in Bengali. They also made a distinct contribution to education. In 1800
they established printing presses in the Oriental languages and the first
printed Bengali prose book by a Bengali, Pratapaditya Carita. In 1818,
the first periodical in any Indian languages Dogdarshar and the first
newspaper in any Indian language Samachar Darpan were published. The
Bible was translated into 41 languages, 28 by Carey.
The contribution of missionaries to the Malayalam language
239
Portuguese missionaries, immediately on their arrival, established

seminaries and schools and learned the indigenous language. In 1583,
they established a press at the seminary in the Kochi area, and by 1580
two more at Vypeen fort and Kochi. The earliest prose work from the
missionaries is supposed to be the translation of the decision taken at
Synod of Diamper in 1599. Of the verse narratives extant, the Ramban
Song (The Thomas Parvam) recounts the coming of Apostle Thomas to
India, his travels and the founding of the many churches and ends with
his martyrdom at Mylapore in the year 72 CE.
Father Arnos who came to Kerala in 1599 was an accomplished
Malayalam scholar. He composed a large number of religious works in
Malayalam and produced a Malayalam-Sanskrit-Portuguese dictionary.
He wrote a grammar text and some long poems. The Department of
Printed Oriental Books and manuscripts (British museum) has a palm
leaf manuscript containing eight Malayalam poems on gospel history,
Christian doctrine and hagiology. One of the first Malayalam publications
printed in Europe seems to have been an essay on the Granthe-Malayalam
alphabets from materials supplied by Clemens de Jesu. The book appeared
in Rome in 1772 and there is a copy in the British museum collection.
Clemens, who died in 1782 and spent several years in Kerala, engraved a
set of Malayalam types for the press of the Society of Jesus in Rome.
Samkshepa Vedaratham is the first printed book in Malayalam using
Malayalam fonts; the author Fr Clement Pianius brought a copy of this
from Rome to Kerala in 1774. Robert Drummond wrote the first
comprehensive grammar of the language, and a copy of it, printed in
Bombay in 1799, is in the possession of the university library.
The Contribution of Christians to

Indian Culture
Christians in India have played a significant role in contributing to the
Indian culture. As India is composed of various cultural traditions, their
contribution to the Indian culture varies from one state to another.
Christians and Kerala culture
As Christians in Kerala have a good education and have played an active
role in public life, they have been able to contribute to its culture,
240
particularly literature and fine arts. There is little doubt that their most
important achievements were in the fields of linguistics and literature. As
far as the 18th century is concerned, the credit of having started the
development of literature in Malayalam goes to Carmelite Vicar Apostolic
Angelo Francis of St Teresa who authored a grammar book in colloquial
Malayalam, supplemented by a short dictionary,38 which was followed by a
Malayalam-Latin dictionary. After settling down at Ambazakkad in 1662,
he established a printing press and published a number of books in Tamil.
A German Jesuit, John Ernest Hanxleden, who worked in Kerala near Trissur
for more than 30 years and died there in 1782, did outstanding work in
this area. He had a thorough knowledge of Sanskrit, Malayalam and Syriac,
and is the author of a Sanskrit grammar in Latin, a Malayalam-Portuguese
grammar and a Malayalam-Sanskrit-Portuguese dictionary. Hanxleden is
known among the Malayalees as Arnos Pathiri. He wrote at least five poetical
works, all of which were later sung by Christians. Some are still used,
especially during the three days of Holy Week.
Archbishop Emmanuel Carvalho Pimentel of Kodungaloor (1721-52),
who was nicknamed Buddhi-Metran (brainy bishop) by his flock, had an
excellent knowledge of Malayalam and Syriac. Some of the other Jesuits
who left an impression in the same field were two Germans, B Bidcopinick
(died in 1743) and J Hausegger (died in 1756). The former wrote two
dictionaries (one in Malayalam and the other in Sanskrit-Portuguese).
Some of the written works of Kerala Christians are also important
landmarks, especially three of them, Malayalam manuscripts written on
three palm leaves (olas). The first one forms a collection of sortilege; magical
formulae and medical recipes admixed with many Christian names and
prayers. There is also a prayer book with many Syriac words. The last
manuscript, which is incomplete, has a poem in honour of St Alexus written
by Jacob Mapilla (a Syrian Catholic priest) who was a friend of Paulinus.
Mathew of Kollancherry, a Syrian Christian priest, authored a prayer
book, which has morning prayers, a short catechism and prayers related to
the mysteries of Christ. According to the two Germans mentioned above,
there is a versified life of David by an Orthodox priest, Joseph. Another priest,
George of Parur, is the author of a poem on Job, and also of a short ballad on
the arrival of Syrian Orthodox bishops, Baselius Gregorios and Yuhanon.
The work, Varthamanapustakam, is almost unique in the annals of
241
Malayalam literature before the 20th century. It is the work of Paremmakkal

(1735-99), the friend and travel companion of Archbishop Kariattil.39 It is
a travel narrative pertaining to the years, 1773-86; it also deals with the
whole 18th century history of St Thomas Christians. It is exceptional as it
is the very first prose narrative in Malayalam. Fr Placid J Podipara CMI
published in 1971 a fully annotated English translation.
The Carmelites also introduced a school of languages at Alangad in
1734 for the newly arrived Carmelite priests, thus helping them to produce
many books and dictionaries: a LatinMalayalam grammar, and a shorter
Latin-Malayalam-Sanskrit grammar. They also produced two dictionaries,
one being a Malayalam-Sanskrit grammar and the other a PortugueseSanskrit grammar. In addition, they also produced a Malayalam grammar
with a small dictionary written in Sanskrit characters. There is also a
collection of palm-leaf manuscripts kept at the Vatican library in which
there is one in Malayalam, which among other items such as prayers, a
confession rite and so on, contain selected passages from the Gospels.
In 1768, Ildephonse of the Presentation wrote a Latin description of
sorts on the Hinduism of his day. It is titled (in translation)
Accurate Collection of All Doctrines and Secrets from the Puranas, which has
as many as 618 folios, a work of apologetics. After his return to Rome in
1790, he wrote many books among which were System Brahamanichum
Litugicum, published in 1791, with a German translation in 1797.40 It is
on Hinduism and partly on the Indian antiques he had collected and which
were kept in the Borgia museum at Velletri near Rome. He also published
two books on the history and state of Christians in India, the first called
India Orientalis Christiana, and the second, A Voyage to Eastern Indies. The
original Italian edition came out in Rome in 1796, the German in 1798,
the English in 1800 and the French in 1808. The voyage is much more
than a mere description of his journeys. It describes South India, above
all Kerala, in detail. Hindus, Christians and Muslims are described
from different anglessocial, religious, economic and political realities
of the day.
Protestant churches such as the London Missionary Society, the
Church Missionary Society and the Basel Mission Society played a very
important role in Kerala. There were also considerable efforts in linguistics
and lexicography. Benjamin Bailey (1805-70), Joseph Peet,
242
Rev George Mathan (1819-70) and Rev George Koshy, played a key role
in developing the Malayalam language. The most important of the
missionaries was Herman Gundert (1814-93) who wrote many books in
Malayalam, the most important of which are a Malayalam English
Dictionary, Keralappazhama (Kerala Antiquity) and Pazhamacholamala
(A Garland of Proverbs). Baileys Malayalam-English Dictionary (1846)
and English Malayalam Dictionary (1846) stand out. Father Gerad brought
out the first work on rhetoric in Malayalam on the European model under
the title Alankara Sastram in 1881.
Missionaries started the first journals in Malayalam. Rajyasamacharam
is the first in 1847, produced as eight cyclostyled sheets from a press at
Ilikkikinnu near Thalassery. In Central Travancore in early 1848,
Jnananiksepam, the first Malayalam magazine was printed. The first
indigenous printing press was established at Mannanam in 1846,
masterminded by the Blessed Chavara.
Christians and Karnataka culture
The Jesuit, Thomas Stephens was the first Englishman in India. He wrote a
series of letters to his father, which held out the strongest inducement which
London merchants had been offered to embark on Indian speculations which
subsequently led to the formation of the East India Company.41 He was the
first to make a scientific study of Canarese. He also studied Hindustani, and
in both these languages he published manuals of piety and grammar.
The Christian Purana (1616), a long poetic work, shows that he must have
acquired a complete mastery of Marathi, Konkani and Sanskrit. His
Arte de lingua Canarin is a grammar of the Konkani language, and it is the
first grammar of an Indian language by a European. He also wrote a catechism
of Christian doctrine, which appeared in 1622. Coorg Songs, with outlines
of the Coorg grammar by Graeter (Mangalore, 1870), and R A Coles
Grammar of Karnataka Language (Bangalore 1867) are later contributions
made by Europeans to linguistic studies.
Christians and Telugu culture
Veermamunivar wrote Gnanabodammu, Spiritual Instruction, in Telugu
(Nellore 1753). Antony Kutty Annaviar (1710-30), a lay colleague of Beschi,
wrote Anada Prasatam and Anu Vasagam. The missionaries have contributed
243
to the study of Telugu grammar and lexicography, including William Careys

Grammar of Telugu Language (1819) and Browns vocabulary of Gentoo
and English (1818). Some of the other contributions by the Europeans to
Telugu literature include, The Prosody of the Telugu and Sanskrit Languages.
The Vedanta Rasayanamu is one of the four Roman Catholic Prabandams,
which is a poetical work on five joyful and five sorrowful mysteries of the
rosary, composed by a Roman Catholic nyogi Brahmin. There is a manuscript
entitled Dialogue between a Christian and a Brahmin found at the
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. The Nistara Ratnakaramu (Ocean of Salvation)
was printed before 1852. The Satyavede Sarasangrathasam, as a Sanskrit
work by Calmette which was translated into Telugu by a Roman Catholic
Brahmin. Anilya Nitya Vivastam or difference between the temporal and
the eternal is considered to be one of the four Roman Catholic Prabandams,
written both in prose and poetry by Samantapudi Mallyayya for a catechist
Marianna working in Kondavidu. The Vedanta Saramu (Essence of
Theology) is of a higher order of writing.
The Tobias Charitra or Sarveswara Mahatwam is a historical poem
composed during the last quarter of the 18th century by a nyogi Brahmin
poet, Pingala Ellana Rayadu, at the request of Thumma Anuandu Rayyappa
Reddy, lord of the Bastala-Kavrapadu and grandson of Yelnati Rayyappa
Reddy, the first of his family to become a Christian. One of the
Roman Catholic Prabandams is Gnana Chintamani, which belongs to
the same period, and is a poetic narrative of the Christianization of the
first regional (Telugu) Roman Catholic, Gopu Reddi clan of Alamuru.
Fr G L Coeurdoux (who died in 1779), is the author of a Telugu-SanskritFrench Dictionary, and a French-Telugu-Sanskrit and Telugu-French
Dictionary, with greater emphasis on colloquial language. Fr Perre de la
Lane (died in 1746) wrote in 1729 a Telugu grammar and also a Telugu
dictionary entitled Amara Sinham.42
Christians and the culture of other areas
Henry Martin translated the New Testament into Hindi and Persian, revised
an Arab version of the New Testament and translated the Psalter into Persian
and the Prayer Book into Hindi. He came to India in 1806 as a chaplain
and left India for Persia in 1811 and died at Tokat in 1812. English Dictionary
by A Manner (Mangalore 1886), Extensive Vocabulary English and
244
Hindoostanee by John E Gilchrist (1798) and Dictionary of Hindee and English

by J T Thompson (1862) are further missionary contributions. As a result
of the efforts of Serampore Mission, the first Hindi periodical Digdarshan
appeared in 1810, and Herman Mongliv of the Basel Mission published
the first newspaper available in the Kannada language. Illustrations of
Grammatical Parts Guzeratte, Maratta and English Language (1808) by
Rober Drummond, William Careys, Grammar of the Maharatta Language
(1810), Vans Kennedys, A Dictionary of Maratta Language (1824),
Rev Amos Suttons, Introductory Grammar of Oriya Language (1831) and
his Oriya Dictionary3 volumes (1841), William Careys, A Grammar of
Punjabee Language (1812) and Samauel Starkeys, A Dictionary of English
Punjabee(1849) are also examples of missionaries contribution to the
languages in India. Robert Caldwell is considered to be the first linguist
who made a comparative research on the Dravidian languages;
The Comparative Grammar of Dravidian Language was his masterpiece, which
was published in the middle of the 19th century.
No one can deny that the missionaries had a strong desire to serve the
people of the country. They also brought to the local people a sense of
pride in their own languages, using the simple style of the common man as
a means of communicating new ideas. The printing press, no doubt, made
books cheaper and made it possible to take literature to the masses.43
The Christian Contribution to Art

and Architecture in India
Nowhere in the world is there any fully local or indigenous art or
architecture. Such is the case with the church art and architecture of
India. To a certain extent all nations and cultures that came into contact
with India have influenced the process. This process falls into certain
specific periods in history. For convenience it can be condensed into three:
first, the pre-European period; second, the17th to the 18th centuries;
and third, the modern period.
Christians and Kerala art and architecture in the 17th century
Kerala, located on the west coast of India, was at the centre of the
international highway of seaborne trade. It was a meeting point of many
worlds from early times. The discovery of monsoon trade routes of Hippalus
245
in the first century BC/CE connected Muzuris (Cranganore) directly across

the Arabian Sea with cities to the West (especially Alexandria and Aden).
The western coastal route gave the ships ready access to the Indus and
countries to the north and north-west in Asia and Europe.
Kerala was also influenced much more by the trans-Arabian Sea visitors
than her immediate neighbours. Christian art and architecture in Kerala
were greatly influenced by the arrival of Vasco da Gama in 1498 and visitors
from Portugal, the Netherlands, France and England. The pre-European
period of Christian art and architecture must have developed through the
influence of two sources: first, indigenous forms and techniques of art and
architecture that already existed in the land; and second, nourishment
received perhaps from countries in the Near East including Greece,
Rome, Egypt and other Middle East countries through missionaries and
traders. One can see a harmonious blending of East and West in Christian
art and architecture.
There are two accounts of church and church building activities of
Christians of Kerala at the end of the 16th century. There is, first, an
account by Joseph the Indian and letters written by four bishops in 1504;
and, second, there are documents of the Synod of Diamper in Malayalam
found in many Kerala churches, in Portuguese in the work of Gouvea,
and in English in the work of Geddes. 44 In the first, it seems that
Vasco da Gama mistook a Hindu temple for a church and he venerated
the idol of Bhaghavai mistakenly as an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This clearly illustrates the similarity between Hindu temples and Christian
churches. Soon after, four East Asian bishops were received by the faithful
with great joy and they [the Christians of Kerala]went to meet them with
joy, carrying before them the book of the Gospel, the cross, censers, and
torches And they [the bishops] consecrated them .45 In the second,
The Journada of the Synod of Diamper throws light on the structures
and arrangements of the churches visited by Archbishop Menezes. These
churches and all their belongings were the property of the local parishioners
of each church and they were built completely by the autonomous parishes.
Almost all the churches had very similar structures to each other both
inside and outside.
The typical early Malabar Church had certain striking objects of
significance in front, inside the courtyard or just outside it. One was an
246
open-air granite (rock) cross, sometimes called Nazraney sthamba, seen at

Kaduthurthy, Kuravilangad, Kanjoor and Ollur churches. A second one is
a Kodimaram, or flag staff, made of famous Kerala teak wood as at Parur,
and often enclosed in copper hoses or paras as at Changanacherry, Pulikunnu
or Chambakulam. A third one is the rock Deepa-sthamba, or lamp stand, as
at Kallooppara, Kundara and Chenganur churches.
One notices a variety of sthamba or pillars in other religious structures
as among the Buddhists, Jains and Hindus. These pillars were part of the
Christian heritage of Kerala well before the ascendancy of Vedic Hinduism.
The rock cross of Malabar churches is usually tapering tall stone column,
sometimes decorated. Rome, London, Paris and New York have many obelisks
from Egypt and East, but have no original cross-bearing structures decorating
piazzas and squares. The Asoka Pillar and other pillars were influenced by
Graeco-Parthian design, under Parsi influence. The Nazraney sthamba is a
direct descendant of the obelisk and much closer to it than the other Indian
pillarsin shape, method of construction and transportation, method of
erection and so on. These obelisk crosses continued to be erected mostly in
front of churches, even after the establishment of western churches, although
a few changes in the motifs on the pedestals can be noticed. These crosses
were typically found in Portuguese colonies in India and elsewhere.
The indigenous architecture of Kerala churches is immensely rich in
symmetry and beauty because the open-air rock crosses (some more than
thirty feet in height) include the intrinsically carved pedestals and monolithic
shafts. It is to be noted that no other community in Kerala has such huge
monumental structures. Furthermore, the indoor counterparts of these
crosses, called Pallavi or St Thomas crosses, have the earliest carvings in
Kerala of the national flower, lotus, and the national bird, the peacock; and
sometimes the national animal, tiger, is depicted in Kerala art in church
sculptures. Even the Vedic Hindu Vigrahas appear in Kerala much later
than these so-called Persian crosses. A closer examination of the supreme
Bal, sacrifice, or Mahabali appearing on the Balikkallu or the sacrificial
altar is an appropriate representation of the Calvary events. Probably it
sheds light on the ideological mindset of the forefathers. Preservation of fire
and oil-nerchers are linked to these crosses.
The granite lamp stand or deepastamba at churches in Kalloopara,
Kundara and Chenganoor are of great antiquity. Displays of rows of rock
247
lamps, and the traditional bronze lamps (some even with hundreds of wick
holders) like the Aayiram Aalila lamps at Arthat or Angamaly speak well of
the architecture of the churches. In front of the churches there is a third
interesting object, the flagstaff. Every festival is ushered in with the kodiyettu
or flag hoisting, a tradition which goes back to early Buddhist times at least.
The typical old Kerala church has a special roofing pattern, a threetiered gabled wooden roofing pattern. The highest roof is for the Madhbaha
or Sanctum Sanctorum and the lowest for the Mukhamandapam or portico
with the nave or Hykala having a roof of middle height. The flagstaffs, the
rock lamp stands, the baptismal fonts, and the three tiered roofing pattern,
and the appearance of the inside of the churches have undergone radical
changes after the arrival of the Westerners, especially the Portuguese.
With the arrival of the Portuguese the ornate monumentality of the
European churches came on to the scene and was introduced into the small
temple-like Syrian Christian churches, which did not have windows. Then
the Romano-Portuguese style was introduced. The local artists learned its
finesse and assimilated it and created some of the finest pieces of artistry in
the Nazraney school. One can see diverse art traditions (both Western and
Eastern) superimposed one over the other, such as the Indian symbols like
stone lamps, flag masts, stone crosses, arched entrances and so on, untouched
by foreign hands and co-existing with Renaissance frescoes, and the Baroque
art of Europe in the same churches.
Some other changes since the arrival of Western Christianity are
paintings and sculptures on a large scale, imposing altar pieces or reredos,
rostra or pulpits, statues of different types and sizes, huge bells and belfries,
frescoes, paintings on wood panels and cloth, among others. The Portuguese
put up facades between the portico and the nave in order to impart a
Christian (a non-Hindu) appearance to the churches. It is to be noted
that the mural paintings depicted on the walls of the Kerala churches may
be older than the well-known Mughal and Rajput paintings. Some
interesting murals, using only pigments extracted from natural objects like
leaves and laterite stones, are to be seen in the churches at Angamaly,
Akaraparambu, Paliekkara, and Cheppad. The early paintings and
iconography of Kerala churches strictly follow the concepts of Indian sages
and craftsmen in these matters. Ancient wooden panels are seen at Piravaom,
Kottayam, Changanacherry and Ollur churches. There are also churches in
248
Kerala which adhere more or less to one or other of the classical Christian
architectural styles like the Basilican, Romanesque, Byzantine, Gothi,
Baroque and Rococco. But the churches built in the 20th century are
combinations of various styles, both Eastern and Western.
Christian art and architecture outside Kerala
Two distinct patterns of Christian art have emerged since the Portuguese
ascendancy in India, one within the areas of Portuguese influence, mostly
along the coasts of the peninsula and the other at the Moghul court in the
north. The Christian art of Goa reached its climax in church building. The
churches were elaborately decorated expressing the Baroque ideal of making
visible here on earth the heavenly darbar (centred round the Eucharistic
presence of Christ among the people). But European Baroque in the hands
of Indian artisans and craftsmen developed its own repertoire of skills, styles
and motif and produced a unique locally developed style reminiscent of
the Hindu temple and its companion lamp tower. By the end of the 16th
century Goa is compared to Lisbon and was termed the Rome of the East.
Something quite different happened in northern India at the court of
Akbar (1556-1605). The Jesuits wanted to establish great influence at the
cultural and intellectual level, and they made good use of paintings and
engravings, which were easily available and transportable. Akbar was very
appreciative of their artistic qualities and the religious content and he ordered
his court painters to copy the new art. This continued even when the secular
pictures reached India through officials of the East India Company.
With the arrival of Protestant missionaries pioneered by William Carey,
there was a stress on literature (the Bible) and education. They did not
show interest in music, drama, feasts and festivals. Their church buildings
showed the influence of their country of origin. There were more creative
attempts during this modern period than ever before. Both groups of
painters (non-Christian and Christian) expressed their search and insights
in relation to Indian traditions. While the non-Christian painters expressed
their search and insights in relation to the person of Christ, the Christian
painters interpreted Christ through the means of Indian traditions.
Nandalal Bose studied under Rabindranath Tagore and he exercised great
influence on the Bengal School. Christian painters like Angaelo da Fonseca
and Vinayak S Masoji studied under them. One of the recurring themes of
249
Nandalal Boses Christian paintings is the cross. For several years, Jamini
Roy chose Christ as the main theme of his paintings. K C S Paniker carried
on the spirit of India in a modern form, and during recent times several
Christian artists have come forward to express their Christian faith through
the medium and form of Indian art.46
The Christian Contribution to

Healthcare in India
The Census Report of 2001 points out that Christians in India is just
2.3 per cent of the total population. Despite the small percentage of the
population of this minority community, their contribution in the field of
healthcare in this country is unique and praiseworthy. The church from
its very beginning followed the mandate Christ Himself gave to His
disciples to go about doing good and cure all infirmities and restore life
to its fullness. So, from the outset the church considered service to the
sick as an integral part of her mission. From the early centuries, one finds
the establishment of inns alongside churches to look after the sick, the
suffering and the needy. The decrees of the Councils of Carthage
(309 CE) and Tours (567 CE) testify to this. In 370 CE, St Basil, Bishop
of Caesarea founded a complex called Basiliades to take care of the sick.
This can be considered the prototype of institutions for the care of the
sick. By the 4th century there existed different types of such institutions
like xenodoquim (an inn designed to take care of pilgrims and those in
exile, noxocmium (hospital for the sick), orphanotrophium (to take care of
children separated from their parents), gneronotocomium (asylum for the
leprosy patients) and so on. Later religious communities and
confraternities or brotherhoods started to emerge to take up the work of
charity for the care of the sick, support of the poor, orphans and needy. In
1498, the Holy House of Mercy (Santa Casa Miscericordia) was started.
From the very beginning of the arrival of the missionaries from the
West to India, the healthcare scenario in different parts of the country
started a new phase. The Portuguese missionaries started the Holy Houses
of Mercy in Cochin and Goa. Later in 1527, the Cochin site was further
developed as a hospital, Cruz de Cochin, which is probably the first
Christian hospital in India. Later Fr Henry Henriques started a Christian
hospital in Punnaikayal, in Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu. With the
250
arrival of various religious congregations, more healthcare institutions

developed in different places. The congregation of Daughters of St Anne
founded healthcare centres in Ranchi and Calcutta. So also the Presentation
Sisters who came to Chennai in 1842 started dispensaries attached to
schools and also the South Indian Railway Hospital. More hospitals and
healthcare centres were established in various parts of India such as
Visakapatnam (1849), West Bengal in 1860, and a Holy Child Hospital
in 1883 in Bhoborpura, Krishnagar, and Shimuiana in 1886. They
initiated their healthcare apostolate in Kerala under the Vicariate of
Verapoly. Later they extended their work to different parts of Kerala. With
the dawn of the 20th century, hospitals and health care centres were
found in many parts of the country.
The Protestant churches in India began their contribution in the field
of healthcare in the middle of the 19th century. One of the most important
contributions is through Vellore Mission in Tamil Nadu, which was started
along the lines of the visionary plan of Dr Ida S Scudder (1870-1959) that
began in the late 1880s when she arrived in India to assist her father. The
humble beginning of her vision was a one-bed hospital in 1900, which
became a 40-bed hospital by 1902. Thus began the internationally
prestigious Christian Medical College, which stands now as one of the best
health institutions in the whole country. There are a number of other
outstanding Christian hospitals run by the Protestant missions such as
those at Ludhiana and Oddanchatram.
According to The Directory of the Catholic Healthcare Facilities in
India (2003), the Catholic Church in India has 764 hospitals, 2575
dispensaries and health centres, 70 rehabilitation centres, 107 mental health
centres, 61 centres for alternative systems of cure, 188 centres for the
disabled, 162 non formal health institutions and 115 medical training
centres that include six medical colleges.47 Under the Christian Medical
Association of India (CMAI) there are 328 health institutions belonging to
various other sister churches and denominations. Doctors, nurses and health
workers provide yeoman service for the welfare and health of the masses of
India. Down through the centuries, one of the distinguishing contributions
of the churchs involvement in healthcare is primarily due to the dedicated
services of so many religious sisters, and nurses and paramedics.
Statistics reveal that 85 per cent of the health care institutions run by
251
Christian community are in the villages. It is a known fact that most of

these areas are totally or partially deprived of adequate healthcare and other
infrastructure and services. The World Health Organization defined health
as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, instead of the
former negative conception of the absence of disease or infirmity. In this
age of super speciality, the care of the whole person is often forgotten. A
true Christian understanding of healthcare should be a holistic approach,
which includes ones emotional and spiritual care. Respect for life and regard
for Christian ethical principles should be borne in mind in the whole process
of healthcare. Life is to be protected from the moment of conception to the
moment of its natural end. The sacredness of life should be the primary
concern of Christian healthcare institutions. The presence of chaplains and
the possibility of having regular spiritual support need to be provided in
Christian health centres. As health is the core of all human development, it
should include physical, mental, spiritual and social dimensions.48
Endnotes:
1
op. cit., ICD , Dr George Thomas, p 65.

ibid.
3
ibid.
4
op. cit., Boyd, p 45.
5
M M Thomas, The Acknowledged Christ of Indian Renaissance, CLS, Madras, 1970, p 2.
6
ibid.
7
ibid.
8
Hans Staffner, S J, The Significance of Jesus Christ in Asia, Gujarat Sahatya Prakash, Anand,
1985, p 10.
9
ibid, p 29ff, I believe, and I most boldly and emphatically declare, that the heart of a
Native is not naturally more depraved than that of a European or any other nation in the
world. . . .The fact is, human nature is the same everywherein all latitudes and climes;
but circumstances modify it, and religion and usages mould it in different forms
(David C Scott: Keshub Chandra Sen, CLS Madras, 1979.
10
ibid.
11
ibid., p 58.
12
J N Farquhar, Modern Religious Movement in India, New York and London 1915,
p 222.
13
M C Parekh, Bramarash Keshub, Chander Sen, Rajkot, 1931 p v.
14
op. cit., MM Thomas, p 58.
2
252
15
op. cit., Boyd, p 41.

ibid.
17
op. cit., MMT, p 40.
18
ibid.
19
ibid.
20
A M Mundadan, The Church in India: Its Theology and Spiritual Vision, op. cit., ICD,
p 73.
21
ibid, p 74.
22
ibid.
23
Sir David Devadoss, Life of Poet H A Krishna, Pillai, p 29.
24
E G K Hewat, Christ and Western India, pp 220-222.
25
ibid, p 300.
26
op. cit., Latourette Vol VI, p 211.
27
Also refer to the section on Christian Art and Architecture on page 232
28
op. cit., Firth, p 185.
16
29
30
ibid., p 187.
J L Miranda, The Introduction of Christianity into the Hearts of India, Father Robert Mission,
Trichinopoly 1923, p 22. For further information refer to D Yesudhas, Indigenisation or
Adaptation? A Brief Study of Robert de Nobilis Attitude to Hinduism, in Bangalore Theological
Forum, September 1967, p 39ff.
32
op. cit., Robin Boyd, p 13.
33
ibid.
34
ibid.
35
ibid.
36
Church History: Rev. John Laux: Second Period, chapter I, taken from op. cit., ICD, p 82.
37
op. cit., ICD, p 82.
38
E R Hambye, History of Christianity in India, Vol III, 18th century, p 94.
39
ibid., p 98.
40
ibid.
41
Catholic Encyclopaedia.
42
ibid., p 341.
43
Jacob Punnose, Indian Christian Directory, 2006, p 84.
44
ICD, 2006, p 66.
45
ibid.
46
George Menacherry, Indian Christian Directory, p 70. For a longer treatment of the
subject and many references on Christian Influence in Indian Art George Menacherry, in
Christian Contribution to Nation Building, CBCI, KCBC, 2003.
47
Christian Medical Association of India, Directory of Member Institutions, 2002, p 3.
48
Fr Alex Vadakumthala, Indian Christian Directory, 2005, p 74.
31

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