Located on the southwest coast of Maharashtra, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sindhudurg was created on July 5, 2005, when it was bifurcated from the Diocese of Poona.
It was a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Bombay until 25 November 2006, when Pope Benedict XVI transferred it to the newly established Metropolitan province of Goa and Damão.
The Diocese of Sindhudurg is known to be a missionary diocese and is home to 25 parishes and substations. It is also the ‘spiritual home’ of over 25,000 Catholics. Owing to the migration from Goa, over 200 years ago, the cultural identity of the people of the diocese is Goan. The roots of the ethnic traditions, customs, religious customs, including the language can be traced to Goa.
The area of the Sindhudurg diocese is 21,099 square kilometres, consisting of the entire Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts; and Kolhapur district (leaving out the city of Kolhapur|) which consists of the talukas of Ajra, Gadhinglaj, Panhala, Budhargad, Kagal, Radhanagri and Shahuwadi. Sawantwadi is the biggest town in the diocese. Ratnagiri and Malwan are other important towns in the territory.
Sindhudurg district is in the southern part of the greater tract known as the ‘Konkan’. It is historically famous for its long coastline and safe harbours. Sindhudurg district was initially part of the Ratnagiri district. Due to industrial and agricultural development and for administrative convenience, Ratnagiri district was divided into two districts Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg with effect from May 1, 1981. Sindhudurg district now comprises the talukas of Kudal, Malwan, Devbag, Kankavli, Sawantwadi, Dodamarg and Vengurla carved out from Ratnagiri district and the new taluka of Vaibhavwadi, created by transfer of 53 villages from Bavda taluka of Kolhapur district.
In 1819, south Konkan was formed as a separate district with its headquarters first at Bankot and later at Ratnagiri. Three northern subdivisions were transferred to Thane district in 1830 and the district was reduced to sub-collectorate level under Thane district. In 1832, it was again made a full-fledged district and named as Ratnagiri district. In the year 1945, a new Mahal (taluka) called Kankavli Mahal was formed. The former Indian state of Sawantwadi was merged with the district and the taluka boundaries were recognized in the year 1949 the same year the new taluka of Sawantwadi was created and the two Mahals (talukas) namely, Kudal and Lanja were formed. With the organization of the state in 1956, the district was included in the Bombay state and since 1060 it forms a part of Maharashtra.
The name of the district has been adopted from the famous sea fort of Sindhudurg. This was built by Shivaji Maharaj near Malwan and it literally means ‘Sea Fort’. Its construction was started on Nov. 25, 1664, and after 3 years it was completed in such a fashion that the enemy could easily be seen coming from the Arabian sea.
Population
53, 65,132 is the total population. Konkani is the major ethnic group.
Language
Marathi, Konkani, and English, are the languages used in the diocesan territory. The main language among Catholics is Konkani at home and Marathi for administrative reasons.
Culture
The people in the diocese of Sindhudurg have a Goan culture since most of them are migrated from Goa about 200 years ago. The customs and traditions are Goan.