Delhi Orthodox Diocese

Once the nucleus of the Orthodox Church in North India was formed in the capital of the country, the growth of parishes in adjacent centres was rapid and the establishment of the Diocese of Delhi followed in a few years.

Outside Delhi, there are several parishes spread across the various States at Ambala, Alwar, Gurgaon, Kherti Nagar, Bharatpur, Gwalior, Jhansi, Dholpur, Agra, Dehradun, Hardwar, Bhatinda, Hanumangarh, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Hissar, Jaipur, Kanpur, Udaipur, Bhilwara, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh, Singrauli, Obra., Renukoot, Varanasi, Ajmer, Kota, Rawat Bhatta, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Allahabad, Jodhpur, Bikaner, and Jaisalmer.

Today, there are thirteen parishes in and around Delhi alone – Hauz Khas, Janakpuri, Tughlakabad, Sarita Vihar, Mayur Vihar-I, Mayur Vihar-III, Rohini, Dwarka, Dilshad Garden, Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurugram and Faridabad.

An architecturally distinctive three-storey building, the centre was dedicated by Catholicos Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews I and inaugurated by the Vice-President of India, R Venkataraman, in November 1984.

With the St. Thomas Chapel in the middle, the centre is the residence of the Metropolitan and houses, besides the secretariat of the Diocesan Council, a library, a publication unit, the People's Education Society, Sophia Society, Sarva Dharma Nilaya, Dhyan Mandir and Niti Santi Kendra, engaged in a variety of complementary activities.