Bonda New Testament
Overview
The Bonda New Testament is the complete New Testament in Bondo, published by New Life Computer Institute (NLCI) of Bangalore and available via YouVersion/Bible.com (ID 4237). The title Bonda is the exonym by which the language and people are most widely known outside their community; the people call themselves and their language Remo (or Remosam). This is the first complete Scripture in the Remo language.
NLCI (New Life Computer Institute) is a Bangalore-based Bible translation organization with the vision "God's Word in every language community, actively transforming lives," operating from Logos Centre, Horamavu Agara, Bangalore. NLCI conducts socio-linguistic research, executes translation projects across approximately 36 languages in India, and provides typesetting, data processing, and translator training support. Their training work includes development of Paratext-based translation materials in Malayalam and Hindi for mother-tongue translators.
Language and People
Remo (ISO 639-3: bfw; also Bondo, Bonda, Bhonda Bhasha, Bondo-Poraja, Nanqa Poroja, Poraja Katha, Remosum) is a South Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family, belonging to the Gutob-Remo subbranch — one of the southernmost branches of Munda, alongside the closely related Gutob language (gbj). The core Munda languages are spoken across the Chota Nagpur Plateau and adjacent hill zones of Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. Remo's closest relative is Gutob (also known as Remo-Gutob), with which it shares a distinct subgrouping separate from the more widely spoken Santali, Mundari, and Ho languages.
The Bonda people inhabit the Bonda Hills (Khairput block), Malkangiri district, southern Odisha — a remote, forested area of the Eastern Ghats approximately 500 km south of Bhubaneswar. Estimates of the Remo-speaking population range from approximately 7,000 to 12,000 (sources vary; census data has historically under-enumerated remote PVTG communities). The Bonda are classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) — one of ~75 such groups identified by the Government of India as among the most isolated, least economically developed, and most at risk of population decline among India's Scheduled Tribes.
The Bonda Hills were a restricted area for non-tribal outsiders for many decades, requiring government passes for entry. This isolation preserved Bonda cultural practices distinctive in the wider Odisha context: Bonda women traditionally shave their heads, wear layered brass and bead neck-rings (sifon), elaborate beaded necklaces and waist-bands, and a small beaded apron (ringa) — a sartorial identity repeatedly documented in anthropological and photographic records since the colonial period. Traditional Bonda religion involves animism and ancestor veneration, with iron-smithing clans holding ritual prestige. The mahua flower (Madhuca longifolia) is central to Bonda ceremony and diet.
Publishing and Organizations
Published by New Life Computer Institute, Bangalore. The Bonda NT is one of approximately 36 language projects NLCI supports across India's tribal minority communities.