Definition

Para is a Bengali

Bengali language

Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

 word which means a neighbourhood or locality, usually characterised by a strong sense of community. The names of several localities in cities and villages of West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

, Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

 and Tripura

Tripura

Tripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...

 end with the suffix para. Historically, paras often consisted of people of similar livelihood; for example, muchipara means a para where most of the people are Muchis

Muchis

The Muchis are people of indigenous origin found in the Indian state of West Bengal.They are also called Chamars as in northern India.The Muchis or Chamars numbered 995,756 in the 2001 census and were 5.4 per cent of the scheduled caste population of West Bengal...

(cobblers). Again, some paras were based on caste

Caste

Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...

; for example, Bamunpara means a para where Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

s live. However, with the decline of caste-based segregation in India, this form of para has lost much of its significance.

In cities, a person may refer to his neighbourhood as his para.

Examples

Examples of para:
1. bamun-para
2. muchi-para
3. paik-para
4. boddi-para
5. ata-para
6. dom-para
7. chatterjee-para