Himachal Pradesh

The entire territory of Himachal Pradesh varies in altitude from 1,100 to nearly 23,000 feet above sea level. Its name literally means "land of the snowy mountains." Situated in north central India, the eastern border of Himachal Pradesh forms India's boundary with Tibet. It was merged with the nation of India after independence in 1947 and declared a state in 1971.

Himachal Pradesh has an area of 21,490 square miles (slightly smaller than Croatia) and a population of 6.1 million. The two main languages are Hindi and Pahari (a language closely related to Punjabi). Other languages are Kanauri, Nepali, Dogri and Tibetan. The dominant religion is Hinduism (95.9%), followed by Islam (1.7%), Buddhism (1.2%), Sikhism (1.1%) and Christianity (0.09%).

Seventy-one percent of the population is involved in agriculture, which is the mainstay of Himachal Pradesh. There is very little industrial activity and the people are skilled in making shawls and beautiful wooden items.

In the mid-1800s a group of missionaries came to this region and built a church and a graveyard. But after they left the church building was turned into a Tibetan monastery and the graveyard became a potato field. Today Himachal Pradesh is still considered to be the least evangelized state of India. Every mountain in this state—traditionally known as the "land of the gods"—is named after a deity. Witchcraft, spirit worship, rituals and pilgrimages make up the belief system of nearly every inhabitant.

Believers face much opposition. The government recently passed an anti-conversion law and some native missionaries have been forced to leave their mission stations due to harassment from anti-Christians. However, despite resistance and meager results from past years, there has been a recent increase in evangelism by mission organizations. Though the churches in Himachal Pradesh are small, they work together in unity and many pastors regularly meet for fellowship and prayer.