🧭 Rātana Pā

Rātana Pā, or Ratana Community, is a town in the North Island of New Zealand, near Whanganui and Marton in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. The locality was the farm of Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, the founder of a Māori religious and political movement, and the settlement developed in the 1920s as followers came to see Rātana. Pilgrims flocked there in the interwar years to seek healing from Rātana, and after his death continued to visit on religious and political pilgrimages. It continues as the centre of the Rātana Church. Due to the importance of the Rātana movement in New Zealand politics, leading New Zealand politicians often attend annual gatherings at Rātana Pā.