Khushpur

Khushpur is a village in Samundri Tehsil of Faisalabad District in the province of Punjab in Pakistan. It is at 31°7'0N 72°53'0E with an altitude of 167 metres (551 feet). Neighboring settlements include Nara Dada and Rashiana.[1] Its is one of the major and important villages of the Christian community in Pakistan, and is sometimes referred to as the "Rome of Pakistan." The village is renowned for its seminaries, religious facilities and the annual religions ritual known as "Maa Marium ka Jalous" (literally translates as the rally for Mother Mary).

Khushpur
Khushpur
Coordinates: 31.07°N 72.53°E
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
District	Faisalabad
Tehsil	Samundri Tehsil
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)

The name 'Khushpur' has two root words: 'khush' meaning 'happiness' and 'pur' meaning land. Father Felix, a European missionary founded this village in 1901. (Fr. Felix also founded other villages like Mariamabad in Shekhupura district, Francisabad in Shorkot, Jhang district in Pakistan.) “Felix” is the Latin word for "happy". The village was thus given the name of "Khushpur" in Urdu, the "land of Fr. Felix" or “land of Happiness”.

Many important Pakistani Christian leaders and Catholic public figures come from the village; people like Bishop John Joseph, Bishop Rufin Anthony, Ilama Paul Ernest, Shahbaz Bhatti, Paul Bhatti and Simon Jacob MNA all belong to this village.

Facilities

Khushpur has a fiber system telephone network facility and the SUI Northern Gas supply.

There are Government schools where children from the surrounding villages study. Parallel private schools also serve the students. For Catholic/Christian students, a boarding house is available for residence and extra study classes.

Dominican sisters (nuns) run a dispensary that is daily opened from morning to afternoon. The village has a Dominican sisters convent and one of the old Parish Houses.

Due to salinity the underground water is not good. At the bank of the nearby canal (Gogera Branch) tube wells are installed and drinking water is brought through underground pipes to the centrally operated water tank from where the water is supplied to the village.

Khushpur has a parish committee that is very active in village’s each social or religious event. Women (mostly older) have organized a group under St. Catharine of Siena patronage.

The youth enjoys daily football in the evening as they have football ground facility. For village youth at “Adult Basic Education Centre”, beside basic education, short courses are taught to make them skilled.

Khushpur is the only place where the Pakistani Catholic community has a National Catechist Training Centre. From throughout the country, catechists come and study here for their future vocation.

References

1. Location of Khushpur - Falling Rain Genomics