Modern Indian Bible in Marathi becomes an instant hit

(Aug.03, 2010) A Bible, published in a modern, easy-to-read form of western India’s Marathi language, is proving an instant hit after its publisher sold 2,000 copies in less than three weeks. Fr. Francis D’Britto from Vasai diocese,Mumbai translated all 73 books in the Catholic Bible, into the main language of Maharashtra state, which has some 300,000 Marathi-speaking Catholics and Protestants. The “Subodh” or “easy-to-read” Bible is scheduled for a second print run by the end of September. The 1,200-page book was priced at Rs.1,200 rbut sold at a discount of Rs.750
Fr. D’Britto, a popular Marathi-language writer, said he is thrilled that the work, written in popular style, primarily for the Hindus, has been sold out. There have been several translations in the 200-year-history of the Marathi Bible, but this is the first work adapted for the modern-day man, said the 67-year-old priest. The latest translation is based on the Revised Standard Version, the New Jerusalem Bible and the New American Bible, Fr. D’Britto said. It contains 36 colour and 300 black-and-white pictures from painters like Michelangelo and Piccaso, as well as contemporary Indian painter Angelo Fonseca for people to understand the Bible’s message better, the priest said.
“British Protestant missionary William Carey first published the Gospel According to Saint Mathew in Marathi in West Bengal in 1807.