TAKING THE PAST FORWARD
The Central Baptist Church is where you can still enjoy Urdu recital of the Bible like it was done in the Mughal era.
Steeped in History It was in 1814, when missionary J.T. Thompson of Baptist Missionary Society bought a piece of land from Mughal Emperor Akbar Shah II in Daryaganj and built the first evangelist church. However, most of the Christians were killed by the rebels in the revolt of 1857. Thomson, along with a host of local in-charges of the church died, and the Baptist congregation in Old Delhi migrated to different states. Postrevolt, the Baptist Society in London in association with the East India Company contacted members of the congregation, and started looking for a new piece of land to rebuild the church. Finally, they found a Mughal garden that belonged to a powerful ruler, Begum Samru, the Begum of Sardhana, and it was here that they reconstructed the church. The new building was completed in 1860 and, with time, the Baptist community regained its former goings-on in Old Delhi.
The Highlight As opposed to other churches in Delhi which were attended and ruled by the British community, Central Baptist Church has always been exclusively managed by and for the Indian congregation. The most interesting fact about this church is that Urdu, which was the main language of Old Delhi at the time the congregation was constituted, still continues to be the primary language—Bible verses in Urdu engraved on the wall behind the church altar bear witness to this long tradition. However, scripts in Hindi are available for those unfamiliar with Urdu.
At No 1860, Chandni Chowk Road, Tel 09873531576
Central Baptist Church is the oldest church in Delhi and perhaps all of north India