Miri-Maka

Miri
—  city  —
Miri Location of Miri in Maharashtra and India
Coordinates	19°17′N 74°50′E / 19.28°N 74.84°E / 19.28; 74.84Coordinates: 19°17′N 74°50′E / 19.28°N 74.84°E / 19.28; 74.84
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District(s)	Ahmadnagar
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Footnotes

Miri one of the important town situated in Pathardi taluka, Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra on the Paithan road. And twenty miles to the south of Nevasa Miri is also known as Miri Maka because it has Maka village very close to it.

Miri was at the time of publication of the old Ahmednagar District Gazetteer an alienated village. It has a post office. A weekly market is held at Miri on every Saturday The village contains three temples one a Cathedral.

History

Miri is one of the first village in Ahmednagar to adopt Christianity in early 1800 CE.^[1]

Miri is famous for its old Church and Boarding School which is more than 150 years old. It was built by the Church of England Missionary during the time of British empire in India. Miri has one of the oldest Church in Ahmednagar which was built by the British Missionaries. The town reached the height of its prosperity at the end of the 19th century and was well known for its boarding school and as populated Christian town. Many Christians as well non Christians from Ahmednagar were sending their children for High school study in Miri, however boarding is now closed due to scarcity of finance. But St. Helena School of Miri its still runs by local Villagers. ^[2]

Religions shrines

Miri is famous for its Church feast & fair. Thousands of devotee come for the feast of Church Anniversary on 28 August every year from all over the Maharashtra. Many native people who were migrated to other place also gather on the get-together occasion of feast. The villagers got their surname from the village Mirpagar & Mirikar. Many villagers left the village due to drought in 1960. Most villagers migrated to Mumbai, Pune, Nasik and bhusawal and settled there. Migrated villagers from Miri are highly educated and on high job post. ^[3]

The Shrine of the Hindu-Muslims saint Kanhoba well build in area The shrine is said to have been built by alamgir or Aurangzeb in 1644 A.D. Two Fairs and one Feast are held in town. The one is honour of Virabhadra is held in September–October. The other is held in honour of Kanhoba on 10 March. (On Falgun Rangpanchami which comes in March Month) ^[4]

Oldest Church in Miri village

Religion

Hindus are majority in Miri. about 70% of locals are Hindus and Christians are second highest Majority in Area which is about 30%. The Town has been maintained a communal Harmony in area. Hindu and Christians Participates in each other's festival and ceremonies.

see also

• Marathi Christians
• Christianity in India

References

1. ^ "Miri". http://anglicanhistory.org/india/chatterton1924/14.html. 
2. ^ "feast celebration". Express India. 1999-09-21. http://www.expressindia.com/news/ie/daily/19990921/ige21110.html. 
3. ^ "christians of miri". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharashtrian_Christian. 
4. ^ "Gazetteer of miri". http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/Ahmadnagar/places_Miri.html. 

External links

• Ahmadnagar entry in Encyclopædia Iranica
• Ahmednagar yellow pages
• Ahmednagar Maharashtra gazetteer.