Followers of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

are a significant minority in

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

state of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. According to the 2011 Census, Christians make up about 2.77% of the population (about 1,160,000 people). Kurukh, Sora, Kharia and Panos are notable ethnic groups with a significant Christian population.

Denominations

Church of God (Anderson) Church of God is a name used by numerous denominational bodies. The largest denomination with this name is the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) Adventist Churches of God * Church of God General Conference (Church of God of the Ab ...

, Council of Baptist Churches in Northern India, Evangelical Missionary Society in Mayurbhanj and Jeypore Evangelical Lutheran Church are among the Protestant denominations of Odisha. Christ Church the full Gospel Church, Gospel Outreach Ministries, India Evangelistic Association,

Orissa Baptist Evangelistic Crusade Orissa Baptist Evangelistic Crusade (OBEC) is a Baptist Christian church body in the state of Odisha in Eastern India. It is affiliated to the Baptist World Alliance. Its headquarters is in Bhubaneswar. OBEC has 405,000 baptized members and more t ...

and The Pentecostal Mission are among the non-Catholic denominations of Odisha as well. The Church of North India is present in Odisha as well with the dioceses of

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literally ...

Phulbani Phulbani is a municipality and administrative headquarters of Kandhamal district in the state of Odisha in India. History It is named after the lady 'Phulardei' who was sacrificed by the local inhabitants as an act of religious ritual to Mother ...

, and

Sambalpur Sambalpur () is the fifth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761 (as per 2011 census). Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Sam ...

. The diocese of Chota Nagpur also serves a small part of Odisha. and Christian Revival Church is also serving.

Bible translations into Odia

The first version in the

Odia language Odia (, ISO: , ; formerly rendered Oriya ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha (formerly rendered Orissa), where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is also ...

of India was translated by William Carey in 1808 and was distributed among pilgrims at

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as '' ...

to introduce them to Christianity. Then came the standard version by

Amos Sutton Amos Sutton (1802 in Sevenoaks in Kent – 17 August 1854 in Cuttack, Odisha) was an English General Baptist missionary to Odisha, India, and hymn writer. He published the first English grammar of the Odia language (1831), a History (1839), and ...

in the 1840s.

Roman Catholic Church

The archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar is Archbishop John Barwa. Its suffragan dioceses are: * Balasore *

Berhampur Brahmapur (; also known as Berhampur) is a city on the eastern coastline of Ganjam district of the Indian state of Odisha. Bramhapur is most famous for its street food, silk sarees or pato sarees, temples and many historical places. Bramhapur al ...

* Rourkela *

Rayagada Rayagada is a municipality in Rayagada district in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the administrative headquarters of Rayagada district. History The city of Rayagada was founded by King Vishwanath Dev Gajapati (1527-1531 CE) of the Suryava ...

Statistics

2011 census

Demographics

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.

Places with the largest proportions

The figures indicate % of Christians within the districts:Census India 2011
/ref> * Gajapati ** Serango– 84% ** Adava– 75% ** R.Udayagiri– 50% *

Kandhamal Kandhamal district is a district in the state of Odisha, India. The district headquarters of the district is Phulbani. Kandhamal is famous for its local turmeric renowned as 'Kandhamal Haldi' which has earned the Geographical indication (GI) tag ...

** Brahmanigaon– 72% ** Daringbadi– 64% ** Kotagarh– 58% * Sundargarh ** Raiboga– 62% *

** Puttasing– 80% **

Chandrapur Chandrapur (earlier known as ''Chanda'', the official name until 1964) is a city and a municipal corporation in Chandrapur district, Maharashtra state, India. It is the district headquarters of Chandrapur district. Chandrapur is a fort cit ...

– 51%

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christianity In Odisha Religion in Odisha