India's tiny Christian population -- about 22,400,000, but just two per cent of the nation's 1.12 billion population -- welcomed Christmas at churches in various corners across the country on Tuesday.
Christianity in India is close to 2,000 years old (older than any other place in South Asia) and took root when St Thomas, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ arrived in Kerala in 52 AD; but Judaism still older in India arrived first 2,500 years ago.
St Thomas greatly influenced populations in Kerala, especially among the Jews settled there, establishing seven churches in the area and uniting a group of Christians who followed a Hebrew-Syriac version of the faith, which had certain Hindu elements especially with regard to ceremonies of birth, marriage and death.
St Thomas then moved to the Madras region. It is said that St Thomas, a carpenter by profession, traveled far north too and converted the daughter of Indo-Parthenion king ruling a kingdom that extended from Kabul to Punjab, by building a palace for him.
Christians - the third largest religious group of India after Hindus and Muslims - live in every region of India but parts of South India, the Northeast, Goa and tribal areas of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh record a much higher population.
Left: A quiet moment in prayer on Christmas eve at a cathedral in Srinagar, Kashmir.
Photograph: Irshad Khan/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: The Christmas Special
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