Fatima Rani pilgrimage festival begins today in Sherpur's Garo hills, over 50,000 devotees expected

A festive mood surrounds one of South Asia's largest pilgrimage festivals at the Baromari St Leo parish in the Garo hills of Sherpur, near the Indian border. The pilgrimage festival begins this afternoon, Thursday, October 29, with Catholic Christian religious ceremonies, and ends at noon tomorrow, October 30.

The parish is located in Baromari, a border area of Nalitabari upazila in Sherpur. Catholic devotees from across the country have begun arriving to join the festival.

Organisers expect around 50,000 or more pilgrims from home and abroad to attend this year, and they believe the gathering of Christian devotees will be larger than last time.

Bishop Paul Ponen Kubi CSC of the Mymensingh diocese will attend as chief guest and will give religious guidance.

Under the theme 'Fatima Rani Mother Mary, Mother of Humanity', the two-day festival opens at 3pm with confession, followed by the holy Mass at 4pm.

At 8pm, thousands of pilgrims in a huge candlelight procession will walk about two kilometres of hill path to the foot of the country's largest 48-foot statue of Mother Mary. A night vigil and healing ceremony will be held at midnight.

The festival will conclude on Friday morning with the Living Way of the Cross and a grand Mass at 10am.

Father Torun Bonowari of the Baromari Christian Mission said the devotees would express their devotion to Mother Mary to fulfil their vows and seek her generous help. In the night procession, carrying burning candles barefoot and reciting religious words, they will traverse two and a half kilometres of the pilgrimage site's uneven hillocks.

He said this year's arrangements have no shortcomings and many pilgrims are coming from home and abroad. Law enforcement agencies and the civil administration have strengthened security, and he hopes the event will end peacefully.

Sherpur Superintendent of Police AKM Zahirul Islam said foolproof security has been ensured so the pilgrimage is festive and trouble-free. More than 400 police in uniform, along with plainclothes police, have been deployed, and a three-tier security cordon has been set up. Coordination is also under way with other law enforcement agencies.

Deputy Commissioner Farida Yasmin said Sherpur is a district of religious harmony where people of different faiths live in bonds of amity. The civil administration, police administration and public representatives are working together to complete the two-day event peacefully, and several rounds of talks have been held with a team led by Father Torun Bonowari of the Baromari Christian Mission.

All preparations, including road repairs, cleaning and lighting, were completed by Wednesday noon, October 28.

The parish was built in 1942 on about 42 acres in the hills, modelled on the city of Fatima in Portugal. One of South Asia's largest Christian religious gatherings has been held here since 1998.

The Fatima Rani pilgrimage festival is held every year on the last Thursday and Friday of October, and its main attraction is the candlelight procession. Organisers say nearly a hundred thousand pilgrims from home and abroad take part in this pilgrimage.