Christianity in Kanyakumari district

Thiruvithamcode Arappally under Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is believed to be built by Thomas the Apostle
Thiruvithamcode Arappally under Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is believed to be built by Thomas the Apostle

Christianity in Kanyakumari district is its second largest religion. The Catholic Church has about 500,000 followers, while the Protestant groups have about 400,000 members.[1]

Christianity is said to date back to the 1st century CE.[2][3] According to the tradition, St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, landed on the Malabar Coast (Kerala) in 52 CE and introduced Christianity.[2][4][3] It is believed he built St. Mary's Church in Thiruvithamcode in 63 CE.[4] During the colonial period Italian, British, Dutch and Portuguese Christians came to Tamil Nadu.[3]

Population of Christians by census decade
Year Christian population Total population Percentage
1961[5] 367,808 996,915 36.89%
1971[6] 475,572 1,222,549 38.90%
1981 551,908 1,423,399 38.77%
1991 677,676 1,600,349 42.35%
2001 745,406 1,676,034 44.47%
2011[7] 876,299 1,870,374 46.85%

In 1961, Christians comprised nearly 37% of the population.[5] In 2011, the Christian population of Kanyakumari is nearly 47% of the population.[7]

  1. ^ "Hindu Christian Communalism; Analysis of Kanyakumari Riots". www.ibiblio.org. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b Asthana, Deepti. "Divine intervention". @businessline. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Hays, Jeffrey. "CHRISTIANS IN INDIA | Facts and Details". factsanddetails.com. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  4. ^ a b Sathyendran, Nita (16 May 2013). "The church that St. Thomas built". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  5. ^ a b "District Census Handbook: Kanyakumari" (PDF). 1961.
  6. ^ "Portrait of Population: Tamil Nadu". 1971.
  7. ^ a b "Table C-01 Population by Religion: Tamil Nadu". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.