Tribute paid to first Protestant missionary to India

Thousands of Tamil people, including scholars and language experts, paid homage to Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg, the first Protestant missionary to India, for his immense contributions in the development of Tamil language.

Ziegenbalg was among many missionaries whose contributions were recalled during the five-day World Classical Tamil Conference in Coimbatore.

Nagapattinam Tahsildar Rengarajan and Zonal Deputy Tahsildar Ramkumar garlanded Ziegenbalg's statue in Tarangambadi at a function.

Tarangambadi in Nagapattinam district is where Ziegenbalg first arrived in 1706 and built a church one year later.

After his encounter with Tamil people and Tamil culture, the German Lutheran missionary was determined to master it's language and translate the Bible to communicate with the natives.

He soon set up a printing press, and published studies of the Tamil language and of Indian religion and culture. His translation of the New Testament into Tamil in 1715 opened up Tamil language to the printing technology.

Although Ziegenbalg died in 1719 at the age of 37, his legacy still lives on. In 2006, while celebrating the 300th anniversary of Zeigenbalg's coming, the Indian government issued a postal stamp in his honor.

He left behind a dictionary and grammar in Tamil; his translations of the New Testament and the Old Testament are still in use.

Ziegenbalg's greatest contribution however is said to be his interaction with socially and religiously marginalized people. He established the first school for girls in 1710 to initiate female liberation in a caste-ridden society.

Meanwhile, the 23-27 Tamil Conference also paid tribute to other Christian missionaries such as Roberto De Nobili, Fr. Beschi, Bishop Robert Caldwell and George Uglow Pope, for their stupendous contributions in the advancement of Tamil language.

The massive event was inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil who praised Tamil language and said it reflected the country's heritage.

Tamil language with a history of more than 2000 years got its due recognition at national level when the Government declared it a Classical Language in 2004.