DAMRA (1946) C-1992
St. Michael the Archangel Patron
Guwahati Archdiocese
(Attached presence : Gojapara)
Catholic Church
Damra – 783 122, Assam
(03663) 280045 House
281509 School
98597 31130 Rector
94357 25359 Fr. Tigga Victor
94350 20295 Fr. C.A. John
98541 23313 Br. Solomon Swer
jchellanthara@gmail.com Fr. C.A. John
Members
Fr. Chellanthara John Rector, PP, Ad
Br. Swer Solomon Asst.HM, Wd., Coun., Cs
Fr. Tigga Victor VR, HM, Asst. PP, Cs
Convent :
MSMHC – Nirmala Convent
(03663) 281627
History
The parish is situated in the Goalpara district of Assam at a distance of 120 kms from Guwahati, and it belongs to the Archdiocese of Guwahati. The Catholics number 3200 in 840 families, living in 75 villages. The main tribal group in the parish is the Garos. The parish is entrusted to the Salesians permanently as per the agreement signed between the Bishop of Tura, Rt. Rev. George Mamalassery and the Salesian Provincial, Fr. John Kalapura on 31-12-1985.
The early history of the starting of the mission is associated with some of the Salesian Fathers from Guwahati who, in the 1930's, visited some of the Garo villages of South Kamrup bordering the Khasi Hills and the Garo Hills as well as the South East parts of the Goalpara district of Assam. Within a decade, the area had 15 villages with a Catholic presence. To visit these villages, the priests from Tura had to walk to Resubelpara, or come by bus from Guwahati to Dorangiri and then proceed on foot to Kharkhutta. The missionaries felt the need to start a mission centre for the Garos of the region.
Soon after World War II, Bishop Stephen Ferrando of Shillong decided to open a centre at Kharkhutta, where a church was already existing. Although Fr. Denis Troncana was appointed, he could not assume responsibility due to his age, and consequently Fr. H. Colzani was asked to look after the new centre. He reached the mission of Karkhutta on 8th May 1946. A few months later, due to the unfavourable access to the mission, the centre was shifted to Damra. Hence the Damra centre was established as a parish in 1946.
The chief purpose of the new mission was to cater to the pastoral needs of the new Garo Catholic communities in the region. Both Fr. Colzani and his assistant Fr. G. Stadler had to face immense problems regarding the land, with a hostile neighbourhood and constant malaria attacks.
In 1951, Don Bosco M.E. School (Garo medium) was started to promote literacy among the Garos. A High School was started in February 1957. In the same year, Fr. Willy Scoots took charge and, during his time, the presbytery, the Don Bosco hall, the staff quarters, Nirmala Convent, Nirmala Girls Hostel and Nirmala M.E. School were constructed. Due to the pressure from the local people, an Assamese medium M.E. School was started in 1956 and later, in 1971, this was upgraded to a high school.
Fr. Dominic Curto was one of the parish priests of Damra, outstanding in his zeal for contacting and establishing new centres. Following a quit-order from the government, Fr. Curto left and Fr. E.V.George, a diocesan priest, took over the charge. The credit for contacting and opening new vistas among the Rabha community goes to him. In 1971, Fr. Victor took over from Fr. George. In 1983, a large number of Garos entered the faith. During this time, Fr. Kuriala, the Headmaster of the H.S. continued the initiatives of Fr. George and contacted the Rabhas and the Boros. New centres for both these groups were opened.