WHEN YOU THINK OF INDIA, Christian Science may not necessarily come to mind. But in the modern city of Chandigarh, located in northern India's Punjab region, just at the foot of the Shivalik mountains, a growing Christian Science congregation is leaving its humble mark.
Designed by 20th-century Swiss-born architect Le Corbusier, this "City of Roses," as Chandigarh is sometimes called, distinguishes itself as India's first planned city. Although Christianity, the religion of less than 1 percent of Chandigarh's population, does not enjoy the popularity that it does in some parts of India, the city's open attitude allows for various expressions.
So how, then, did Christian Science find its way to Chandigarh? In 1975, members of three families who had been reading Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, and thereby had found out for themselves the healing power of Christian Science, began meeting to hold church services. First they held Sunday services in one of their homes. At that time the group numbered about a dozen.
