Followers of Christianity are a significant minority in Odisha state of India. According to the 2011 Census, Christians make up about 2.77% of the population (about 1,160,000 people).[1] Kurukh, Sora, Kharia and Panos are notable ethnic groups with a significant Christian population.
Denominations[edit]
Church of God (Anderson), Evangelical Missionary Society in Mayurbhanj and Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church are among the Protestant denominations of Odisha.[2] Christ Church the full Gospel Church, Gospel Outreach Ministries, India Evangelistic Association, Orissa Baptist Evangelistic Crusade and The Pentecostal Mission are among the non-Catholic denominations of Odisha as well.[3] [4] The Church of North India is present in Odisha as well with the dioceses of Cuttack, Phulbani, and Sambalpur. The diocese of Chota Nagpur also serves a small part of Odisha.[5] and Christian Revival Church is also serving.
Bible translations into Odia[edit]
The first version in the Odia language of India[6] was translated by William Carey in 1808 and was distributed among pilgrims at Puri to introduce them to Christianity. Then came the standard version by Amos Sutton in the 1840s.[7]
Roman Catholic Church[edit]
The archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar is Archbishop John Barwa. Its suffragan dioceses are:
Statistics[edit]
| Year | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 2001[8] | 897,861 |
2.44
|
| 2011[1] | 1,161,708 |
2.77
|
2011 census[edit]
| Religion | Persons | % persons | Males | % males | Females | % females |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hindus | 39,300,341 | 93.62 | 19,877,014 | 93.70 | 19,423,327 | 93.55 |
| Christians | 1,161,708 | 2.76 | 570,979 | 2.69 | 590,729 | 2.84 |
| Muslims | 911,670 | 2.17 | 465,992 | 2.19 | 445,678 | 2.14 |
| Sikhs | 21,991 | 0.05 | 11,561 | 0.05 | 10,430 | 0.05 |
| Buddhists | 13,852 | 0.03 | 7,216 | 0.03 | 6,636 | 0.03 |
| Jains | 9,420 | 0.02 | 4,885 | 0.02 | 4,535 | 0.02 |
| Others | 478,317 | 1.13 | 235,607 | 1.11 | 242,710 | 1.16 |
| Religion not stated | 76,919 | 0.18 | 38,882 | 0.18 | 38,037 | 0.18 |
| Totals | 41,974,218 | 21,212,136 | 20,762,082 |
Demographics[edit]
The Christians are mostly from the adivasi or tribal communities of the state with 8,16,981 Christians among STs and the major tribes are as below with number of Christians and percentage of Christians in each tribe.[10]
| Tribe | Christians | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Munda | 1,74,119 | 31.1% |
| Khond | 1,59,783 | 9.8% |
| Oraon | 1,49,866 | 41.8% |
| Soura | 1,36,369 | 25.5% |
| Kharia | 87,069 | 39.1% |
| Sabar | 37,933 | 7.3% |
| Kisan | 25,675 | 7.7% |
Places with the largest proportions[edit]
The figures indicate % of Christians within the districts:[11]
- Gajapati
- Serango– 84%
- Adava– 75%
- R.Udayagiri– 50%
- Kandhamal
- Brahmanigaon– 72%
- Daringbadi– 64%
- Kotagarh– 58%
- Sundargarh
- Raiboga– 62%
- Rayagada
- Puttasing– 80%
- Chandrapur– 51%
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Indian Census 2011". Census Department, Government of India. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
- ^ World Christian Encyclopedia, Second edition, 2001 Volume 1, p. 369
- ^ World Christian Encyclopedia, Second edition, 2001 Volume 1, p. 369-370
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "The Dioceses - The Church of North India". The Church of North India. Archived from the original on 2010-06-19. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
- ^ Subhakanta Behera Construction of an identity discourse: Oriya literature and the ... 2002 - this work misspells Carey from Odia script back into English as "William Kerry"
- ^ Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions - Page 652 Gerald H. Anderson - 1999 The first Odia conversion was recorded in 1828. Sutton devoted himself to grammatical work on the Odia language and Bible translation. In 1841 he began training the first three Odia evangelists at Cuttack. By 1846 there were eight students"
- ^ "Total population by religious communities". Censusindia.gov.in. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
- ^ "Census of India - Socio-cultural aspects". Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
- ^ "ST-14 Scheduled Tribe Population By Religious Community - Odisha". census.gov.in. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ Census India 2011