Berhampur, Nov. 26: The Kondh tribals of south Orissa now have the Bible written in their language.

The Kui Bible, published by Bible Society of India (BSI), was released at a function in G. Udaygiri town of Kandhamal district yesterday.

According to the general secretary of the BSI, B.K. Pramanik, it is for the second time the Bible has been translated into a tribal language of Orissa. Earlier, the BSI had published a Bible in the Saura language in 1998.

There are around 3 lakh Kondh tribals in Kandhamal, Rayagada and Gajapati districts of south Orissa.

The Kui Bible contains around 2,100 pages and it took a team of three translators more than 15 years to do the job. Although written in Kui, the syllables are in the Oriya script.

The next effort of the BSI is to get the Bible translated into Ho, another tribal language. Work is also on to have a Mundari Bible, which would help missionaries active in the tribal areas of Orissa, said Pramanik. Work on the Ho Bible had been started by slain Australian missionary Graham Staines.

The Bajrang Dal, however, described the translations as a ploy to convert “gullible tribals” living in the remote areas of the state.