Church, Netrokona
Ranikhong missionরানীখং মিশন
- Time needed
- Half an hour to an hour.
- best months
- Nov–Feb
St Joseph's Catholic parish on the Ranikhong hill above the Someshwari, where the river enters Bangladesh: the first Garo mission of the region, on this hill since 1915, with the river and the hills below the church.
Plan your visit
- Best time
- Winter mornings for the view; Sunday for the service.
At a glance
- Mission began
- 1910–11 at Tausalpara; on the hill since 1915
- Parish
- St Joseph's, Diocese of Mymensingh
- Where
- On the hill where the Someshwari enters Bangladesh, north of Bijoypur
About
In 1909 five Garo leaders walked to Dhaka to ask the Catholic bishop for a priest. Father Adolphe Francis began work at Tausalpara near Ranikhong at the end of 1910, baptised the first twenty-one converts in March 1911, built the first church among the Garos at Tausalpara in 1912 and in 1915 moved the mission up onto the Ranikhong hill, where St Joseph's parish stands today. Most of the Mymensingh diocese's Catholics are Garo, and this hill is where their church began.
The hill is the reason to come as much as the history. It rises straight from the Someshwari at the point where the river leaves Meghalaya, and from the church compound, with its school, convent and grotto, you look down on the water and the sand and across to the Garo Hills. On a winter morning it is the best viewpoint in Durgapur. The compound is a working parish, quiet on weekdays and full on Sunday mornings.
Getting there: By hired motorcycle or auto from Birishiri through Bijoypur, about half an hour; the hill is the last stop before the border.
Things to do
- Climb to the church compound for the view over the river to the Garo Hills.
Good to know
- Ask at the parish office before walking around the school and convent; dress modestly and keep quiet near the church.
