When it comes to religions in India, Christianity isn’t the first religion that comes to mind. It isn’t even the second. Hindus account for 79.8% of the total population, according to the 2011 Census. Muslims account for 14.2 per cent of the population, while Christians account for 2.3 per cent, Sikhs for 1.7 per cent, Buddhists for 0.7 per cent, and Jains for 0.4 per cent. ‘Other religious persuasions’ and ‘religion not mentioned’ had percentages of 0.9 and 0.1 per cent, respectively.
In today’s India, Christians account for only 2.5 percent of the population. However, the Christianity has existed in India for at least 1,500 years. In fact, the Acts of Thomas suggests that India is one of the earliest countries where Christianity took root.
The Acts of Thomas–one of several early Christian works that provide narratives of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and their lives–is a thirteen-act Syriac writing about the apostle Judas Thomas and his voyage to India. The story concludes with Judas Thomas’ martyrdom.
Legend has it that the apostles were asked to share the gospel, and Judas Thomas was sent to India, much against his wishes. Eventually, through a twist of destiny, Thomas, a skilled carpenter, meets Gundaphorus, a king from the northern part of India. And, Gundaphorus commissions Thomas to construct a palace for him.
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