Merry Christmas eve everyone. Still working though, India only has the day off for Christmas, just like any other religious holiday. Means, combined with moving house I haven’t had a chance to even properly go out and buy presents until yesterday (When I got home it was nearly 9 in the evening). This means Ireland won’t be receiving presents for a few days until after Christmas, my bad? Got back and got straight into tidying the house (The D’souzas) and sleep, now back at work. Bit draining, but poor Gayle is at home tidying the house with her mum (and I hope from her brother) and she hurt her back shifting heavy things around, so I can’t complain. Told her to take it easy today but I doubt she will. There is still loads to do. Still haven’t got any Christmas buzz inside me, more worried about having to ask my boss for a week off in Jan for Goa. Would love St. Stephen’s day off too but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Think I will go to a big store and buy some things for Gayle’s stocking today, might take a cab to one this evening. I’m just going to take the D’souzas out to a posh restaurant for Christmas and I’m getting Gayle a…. wait she might check the blog today so I won’t say. Will tell you when she gets it. Christmas day, tomorrow is going to be hectic, some 30 people coming, so goodbye any idea of relaxing tomorrow. Plus we have Suppi’s wedding this weekend. Still can’t believe he’s getting married. It’s seems so strange to think of friends getting married. Wish him well, though.
Anyway, though I’d talk a little bit about Christians in India, as it’s Christmas. There are 24milllion Christians in India, mainly distributed to the south and far east side of the country. In all they make up 2.3% of the Indian population and are present in nearly all strands of life. I think this is one of the most suprising things I tell people in Ireland about India, most are surprised when I tell them Gayle is Catholic, and even more so when I tell them how many there are here. Around 70% of Christians in India are Roman Catholics and the rest mainly Protestants and Orthodox.
What is most interesting is the history of Christianity here. Although, the exact origins of Christianity in India remain unclear, it is generally agreed that Christianity in India is almost as old as Christianity itself and spread in India even before it spread in many, predominantly Christian, nations of Europe. Most credit St. Thomas as the apostle who went to India when they divided the world up, though other sources say traders from Mesopotamia brought it with the. When the colonial powers arrived they brought with them their own brand of Christianity (the English Protestantism and the Portugues, Catholicism.) Though many were conversions proceeding this time were voluntary, sometimes they were coerced, especially when the Poruguese brought the Inquisiton to Goa. This was because many converted Indians were opportunistic Rice Christians, who even practiced their old religion. However, this really is the only blot on Christianity’s history in the subcontinent, though modern conflicts have arisen, with stories of aggressive conversion campaigns in some states by missionaries, straining Christian relations with the other Indian religions.
There is even two distinct accounts of Jesus travelling through India. According to the first set of accounts, Jesus traveled and studied in India between the ages of twelve and thirty. According the second set of accounts, Jesus did not die on the cross, but after his apparent death and resurrection he journeyed to Kashmir to teach the gospel, and then remained there for the rest of his life. Both however are unproven, and come mainly from sources in the 19th Century. But there’s no proof against it. The Bible does say Jesus travelled East in his early years and a lot of his philosophy is quite similar to Hinduism and Buddhism.
Goa is one of the bigger populations on the Konkan coast (the west coast of India) and was the main area of Portuguese power in India. Indeed, Goa was actually independent of India, under Portuguese rule till the 1960s I believe, when an impatient India invaded Goa and declared it a new state in India. This was not a bloody affair and the Portuguese left without a fight. Goa is home to the largest cathedral in Asia, which strangely exists in the middle of nowhere, an hour drive from the Capital of Goa, Pamaji.This is because the capital was moved dude toTB epidemic (I think TB) and most of the buildings were taken down and moved to the coastline. So when you go to Goa, to go to the old city you drive into the country and end up in this strange monastery style place with huge buildings (around three cathedrals and large official buildings). In fact what is reminds me of is a Christian styling of those ruined Hindi temple-cities! St Francis Xavier’s body is here, who’s body has not recomposed and is on view to this day. An funny/gross story about St Francis’s body is that a few years ago, when his body was on display, a woman claiming to be his descendent bit off his big toe to take a bit of the saint’s body back to her home. She was stopped from stealing the toe, though the bite remains!
Architectural styles of churches are mainly in two strands, from British influenced Gothic (and Indo-Sarcenic) to the Portuguese style Baroque. Bellow is the Afghan Church (commemorating soldiers who died in the First Afghan War of 1838.) Interestingly, the company I'm working for (KN ARCON) was involved it's recent restoration. The other is the Basilica of Bom Jesus, the oldest church in Goa (1695) and is a world heritage monument. This is the rsting place of St Francis Xavier, who resideds in a silver casket inside a wing of the Basilica.
Today, Christians can be seen in all strands of life and many practice Hindu traditions such as Diwali and Holi. I know we did in the D’souza household. In fact it isn’t unusual to see a taxi driver driving around with a picture of Jesus alongside an icon of Ganesh, though this is also to do with the Hinduism’s general pick-and-mix approach to worship! In Bombay, Bandra is the main centre of Christias, with lots of churches located there.I t's where i went for christmas charols and it's where you'll see the most amount of dceorations up in Bombay. That’s all I have time for, must get back to work now.
St. Xavier's remains.
No comments:
Post a Comment