Agrar means the village of Brahmins and is derived from the Kannada word Agrahara. Once the most extensive parish of the Diocese, extending from Bantwal to Charmadi borders and from the Nethravathi river to the Gurpur river, it is certain that the Agrar church existed even prior to the founding of the Bantwal church in 1702 by Fr Miguel D’Mello. There are no records available to show the exact date of the origin of the church at Agrar. Fr Jose da Costa was the Vicar at Agrar in 1751. Tipu Sultan had demolished the first church. It was rebuilt on the same foundation after the return of the Christians from the captivity. No chronological list of the parish priests prior to 1801 is available.
The church was rebuilt, expanded, and renovated by Fr Camil Baretto in 1889. Br Moscheni sj, artistically painted its sanctuary in 1902. Fr R.F.C. Mascarenhas built the presbytery in 1914. The church has been renovated on the occasion of the tri-centenary of the founding of the parish in 2002.
New parishes of Belthangady in 1885, Madanthyar in January 1893, Siddakatte on May 1 - 1926, Nirkan on May 25 - 1930, Allipade on May 22 - 1938, Loreto on November 1 - 1939, and Farla on December 8 - 1994 were carved out of this once extensive parish.
The Agrar parish manages and runs two Schools known as Agrar Church Higher Primary School and Christa Jyoti High School.
Parish Priests who have served in the parish :
- Fr Camil Baretto (1889)
- Fr R.F.C. Mascarenhas
- Fr Maurice F. D'Souza (1976 - 1983)
- Fr Charles Lewis (1989 - 1990)
- Fr Richard Lasrado (1991 -1997)
- Fr Alban Rodrigues (2000 - 2007)
- Fr John Alfred Barboza (2007 - 2008)
- Fr. Benjamin Pinto (2008 - 2015)
- Fr Gregory D’Souza (2015 - 2021)
- Fr Peter D’Souza (from 2021 onwards)
(Complete list will be updated soon)
Compiled by Catholic Time Staff with inputs from dioceseofmangalore.com
Last updated in Dec 2021.
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