Christianity
The Bible was translated into Assamese in the year of 1819. In 1827, an attempt was made to start a Baptist church in Guwahati, but it made no permanent converts in the area. Later the American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society was able to make some headway in Guwahati. Although these earliest Christian missionary endeavors which were focused in the north-east of India, were in Modern Assam, the great success of Protestant missionaries in North-East India which they achieved in late 19th and the 20th Centuries, was primarily in areas such as Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya which are not part of Assam anymore.
As of 1991 only Tripura of the seven eastern states of India had a lower percentage of Christians than Assam. There were more Christians in Assam than in Mizoram even though Mizoram was the second most Christian state in India at the time.[39]
Besides the Protestants there are also Catholics. There is a Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Shillong.
According to the 2001 Census, there are a total of 986,589 Christians in Assam.[40] Out of this, 291,000 (29.5%) are tribals.[37]
[edit]Sikhism
The first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev had visited Kamrup (Assam) in the 1505 as recorded in the his first visit in Purantan Janam Sakhi (the historical papers related to the visits and daily recorded activities of the Guru). Guru Nanak had met Srimanta Shankardeva(the founder of the Mahapuruxiya Dharma) as the Guru travelled from Dhaka to Assam. But no sangat or historical shrine dedicated to him survives as to date.
Ninth Guru of Sikhs Guru Tegh Bahadur visited Assam in 1668. This place is also famous for the Sikh Gurdwara Thara Sahib or Gurdwara Damdama Sahib which was constructed in memory atop the hillock place of meditation of the Guru in Dhubri, Kamrup. The historical site and places of interest of the Gurdwara are many times referred to asGurdwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib situated in Dhubri (Assam) by the banks of the Brahmaputra .[41] The grateful Ahom King invited Guruji to the Kamakhya shrine, where he was honoured with great respect.
In the year 1820, few hundred Sikh soldiers went to Assam at the initiative of Maharaja Ranjit Singh to help Ahom rulers in a war. Their descendants are mostly concentrated in Lanka in Nagaon district of Assam.[42] Sikhs have been living in Assam for approximately two hundred years.[43]
[edit]Buddhism
The religion is practised by 51,029 persons in Assam. Among them are the Chakma and Boruas. The Chakmas of Assam are loacted mostly in Chachar and Karbi Anglong with very lesser presence in Nagaon district. Guwahati has lots of Buddhist temples, the most prominent being the Bamunimaidan Buddhist temple.
No comments:
Post a Comment