A Hindi or Sanskrit word for church or chapel, used in Indian English to refer to Christian places of worship.
From Portuguese Igreja (church), borrowed into Indian languages during Portuguese colonial period. The Portuguese word itself derives from Latin ecclesia via Romance language evolution.
The word 'girja' traces a stunning colonial path—it traveled from Latin to Portuguese, then to India through trade, and became embedded in Indian languages where it still identifies Christian spaces in Hindu-majority regions.
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