The Garo is a Tibeto-Burman ethnic tribal group from the Indian subcontinent, living mostly in the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, and Nagaland, and in neighbouring areas of Bangladesh, including Madhupur, Mymensingh, Haluaghat, Dhobaura, Durgapur, Kolmakanda, Jamalpur, Sherpur, Jhinaigati, Nalitabari, Gazini Hills Madhyanagar, Bakshiganj and Sribardi. Historically, the name Garo was used for wide range of inhabitant in southern bank of Brahmaputra but now refers to those who call themselves A•chik Mande (literally "hill people," from A•chik "bite soil" + mande "people") or simply A•chik or Mande and the name "Garo" is now being used by outsiders as an exonym.They are the second-largest tribe in Meghalaya after the Khasi and comprise about a third of the local population. Religion Many of the Garo community follow Christianity, with some rural pockets practising traditional animist religion known as Songsarek. It is argued that the indigenous groups who settled in the Garo Hills brought their ancient animistic religious beliefs and practices, with deities who must be appeased with rituals, ceremonies and animal sacrifices to ensure the welfare of the tribe. Rev Ramke W. Momin was the first devout Christian from among the Garo. Rev Ramke W. Momin was born in Goalpara, Assam, India, sometime in the 1820s. Songsarek The religion of the ancestors of the Garo is Songsarek. Their tradition "Dakbewal" relates to their most prominent cultural activities. In 2000, the group called "Risi Jilma" was founded to safeguard the ancient Garo Songsarek religion. Seeing the Songsarek population in decline, youth from the Dadenggiri subdivision of Garo Hills felt the need to preserve the Songsarek culture. The Rishi Jilma group is active in about 480 villages in and around Garo Hills. Geographical distribution The Garo are mainly distributed over the Garo Hills, Khasi Hills, Ri-Bhoi Districts in Meghalaya, Kamrup, Goalpara, Sivasagar, Karbi Anglong districts of Assam, Khasi Hills in Meghalaya and Dimapur (Nagaland State), lesser numbers (about 200,000) are found in Mymensingh (Jamalpur, Sherpur, Netrakona, Mymensingh) and capital Dhaka, Sylhet, and Moulovibazar districts of Bangladesh. It is estimated that total Garo population in Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, West Bengal, Canada, USA, Europe, Australia and Bangladesh together is more than 1 million. Garo are also found scattered in the Indian state of Tripura. The recorded Garo population was around 6,000 in 1971. Garo form minority groups in Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and West Dinajpur of West Bengal, as well as in Nagaland. The