Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Nov 24: A practice that follows the high ideals of communal harmony and gratefulness is being followed by Kirem church, Damaskatte, Kinnigoli, since the last nearly two centuries. Areca nut, betel leaves, and a bunch of banana were handed over on behalf of the church to representatives of Aikalabava, Talipadiguttu and Elinje Angadiguttu lineages on Wednesday November 23, during the annual festival of the church.

It is said that the families of Talipadiguttu, Aikalabava and Elinje Angadiguttu had protected the church from the aggression of Tippu Sultan about two centuries ago. To express gratefulness of the church and to commemorate this sweet gesture, the above things are handed over to the concerned on the day of the annual festival every year.

Priest of the church, Fr Paul Pinto, parish council vice-president, Robert Rodrigues, Santan D’Souza, Burton Sequeira, Lawrence Fernandes etc were present at the programme. Sukumar Shetty and Dinesh Shetty representing Talipadiguttu, Raghuchandra from Aikalabava and Balakrishna Shetty and Shambhu Shetty from Elinje Angadiguttu accepted the honour on this occasion.