Church, Sherpur
Baromari shrine of Mary, Queen of Fatimaবারোমারি ফাতেমা রানীর তীর্থস্থান
- Time needed
- An hour; two days for the pilgrimage.
- best months
- Oct–Feb
A Catholic parish on the Nalitabari border, founded in 1942 and made a Marian shrine in 1998, where tens of thousands gather for a two-day pilgrimage at the end of October.
Plan your visit
- Best time
- The last days of October for the pilgrimage; any winter morning for the quiet.
At a glance
- Parish founded
- 1942 (St Leo's)
- Shrine
- Built 1997, declared 1998
- Pilgrimage
- Two days at the end of October
About
St Leo's parish at Baromari was founded in 1942 to serve the Garo and other Catholic villages along this stretch of the Meghalaya border. In 1997, answering the call for pilgrimages of faith before the Jubilee of 2000, the parish built a hillside shrine to Mary, Queen of Fatima, laid out on the pattern of Fatima in Portugal, and in 1998 the Mymensingh diocese declared it a place of pilgrimage. It has since become the largest Marian pilgrimage in Bangladesh.
The tirthotsob falls on two days at the end of October. The first day has confession, mass, the rosary, a candlelit procession through the grounds after dark, adoration, a healing service and an all-night vigil; the second morning the living Way of the Cross climbs the hill before the closing mass at ten. Estimates run from thirty thousand to over sixty thousand people, Catholics from every diocese and plenty of Muslim and Hindu neighbours who come for the procession and the fair that grows up around it.
Outside those two days it is a quiet parish compound: the church, the grotto and the stations on the slope, with the hills close behind. It is a few kilometres from Nakugaon and on the way to Panihata.
Getting there: From Nalitabari's Garkanda Chourasta north towards Nakugaon land port; the mission is a few kilometres from the port on the border road. Autos and motorcycles go from Nalitabari.
Things to do
- Walk the Stations of the Cross up the slope to the grotto.
- Join the candlelit rosary procession on the first evening of the pilgrimage.
Good to know
- During the pilgrimage rooms in Nalitabari fill up; many pilgrims camp or sit up through the vigil.
- Dress modestly and keep quiet inside the church and around the grotto; it is a place of prayer first.
