Churahi New Testament — Churahi (Bhadvari) New Testament (India)
Overview
चुराही नवाँ नियम ("Churahi New Testament") is the complete New Testament (27 books) in the Churahi language of Chamba District, Himachal Pradesh, India, published by Beyond Translation and available via YouVersion/Bible.com (ID 3250; abbreviation: CDJNT), with an audio edition produced by Davar Partners International in partnership with The Love Fellowship. The community uses the autonym भद्रवाही (Bhadvari/Bhadrwahi, also written in Nastaliq Arabic script as بھدرواہی), reflecting the community's geographic identity with the Bhada valley area of Chamba. Churahi (ISO 639-3: cdj) is a Western Pahari language — one of the numerous small Indo-Aryan languages of the Himalayan foothills.
Language and People
Churahi (ISO 639-3: cdj; autonym: Bhadvari/Bhadrwahi) is an Indo-European language: Indo-European → Indo-Iranian → Indo-Aryan → Pahari → Western Pahari branch. The Western Pahari languages are a cluster of related Indo-Aryan languages spoken across the Himalayan foothills and lower Himalaya of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and adjacent areas — including Dogri, Bhadrawahi, Pangwali, Churahi, Bilaspuri, and many others. Churahi is spoken in the Churah valley (tehsil) of Chamba District.
The Churahi community inhabits:
- Churah tehsil, Chamba District, Himachal Pradesh, India — in the upper Ravi River valley area, bordering Jammu and Kashmir
Estimated speakers: approximately 80,000–100,000 (Ethnologue figures for Churahi/Bhadrwahi).
Cultural Context
The Western Pahari languages of Himachal Pradesh occupy one of the most linguistically diverse regions of India per unit area — dozens of distinct Pahari varieties, many mutually intelligible across a dialect continuum, are spoken in adjacent valleys across the Himalayan foothills. Beyond Translation's Church-Centric Bible Translation (CCBT) model trains local church communities as translation teams, giving the Churahi church ownership of their scripture. The audio NT from Davar Partners makes scripture accessible to speakers with limited literacy.
Publishing and Organizations
Published by Beyond Translation (beyondtranslation.org, Arlington, Texas). Audio produced by Davar Partners International in partnership with The Love Fellowship. Android app available from IPS Apps.