Umesh Marapalli
Daijiworld Media Network—Udupi
Udupi, Jan 3: The Church of the Holy Rosary at Santhekatte (Kallianpur) under Udupi Diocese is all decked up with a new look after undergoing renovation all year. The renovated church, costing around Rs 6 crore, stands on an area of 8,140 sq m.
Fr Philip Neri Aranha, parish priest of the Church, addressing a press meet on Thursday January 1 said, “On Sunday January 4, there will be confraternity at 4 pm, Eucharistic service, adoration of the blessed sacrament and procession of the blessed sacrament to Santhekatte. The sermon will held by Fr Franklin D’Souza.”
On account of the inauguration, a ‘Hore Kanike’ procession will be held on Monday January 5, from Milagres Service station, Ambagilu at 3.30 pm.
The inauguration of the newly-built church will be on Tuesday January 6. The opening will be done by Fr Denis D’Sa, PRO, Udupi Diocese, in the gracious presence of Anantha S Bhat, Pradhana Archaka, Laxmi Venkatesh Temple, Puttur, and P Abubakkar, president, Jamia Masjid, Nejar, and flag-off will be by P Yuvaraj, president, Udupi municipality. There will be several cultural teams and tableau. Also, the faithful of Mount Rosary parish and Kallianpur deanery (Varado) non-Christians, and members of several organizations will participate. About 2,000 people are expected to be present.
At 6 pm, there will be an inter-religious get-together headed by Bishop of Udupi diocese Dr Gerald Issac Lobo, Dr N B Vijaya Ballal, Dharmadharshi, Sri Janardhana and Makali Temple, Ambalpady, and Janab Usman Madani, Maulavi Jamia Masjid, Nejar. Inauguration will be headed by Jerry Vincent Dias and Molly Dias while blessings of the church will be done by the Bishop of Udupi diocese.
Aloysius P D’Souza, Bishop of Mangaluru, will offer the first Eucharistic service in the new church in the presence of hundreds of priests, nuns, and thousands of people—Christians as well as non-Christians.
Dr Leo Cornelio, Archbishop, Bhopal Archdiocese, Gerald John Mathias, Bishop, Lucknow diocese, Shobha Karandlaje, Chikmagalur MP, Oscar Fernandes, Honourable Member, Rajya Sabha, district-in-charge, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Udupi MLA Pramod Madwaraj, Ivan D’Souza MLC, and Satish Nayak, president, Kallianpur panchayat, will be present.
On Wednesday January 7, a Vespers (prayer service on the Word of God) will be held in the morning and the annual parish feast will be held on Thursday January 8. Tulu drama ‘Ellya Vishaya Malla Malpodchi’ will be held at 6.30 pm on the same day.
In 2010, Fr Aranha took charge as the youngest ever parish priest. His soft-spoken attitude, broad-minded approach, as well as simple and friendly nature did wonders for the parish wherein he was able to build not only a good rapport with the youth but also all people in all age groups. Through his hard work, he implemented many plans and projects for the benefit of the parishioners.
As the strength of students increases, the parish priest with the generous support of parishioners built a new school building. Also, importance was given to extracurricular activities by promoting sports and games. With a consistent record of 100 percent results year after year, the scholars brought laurels to the school which helped in sourcing more students from the area.
There are a few specialties of the newly-built such as the entrance door which measures 58 feet in height due to which the beauty and interiors of the church can be viewed. The main altar of the church is beautifully carved and designed by the famous Koratti artists from Kerala. The entire church measuring 115’ in width, 76’ breadth, 60’ feet in height has colorfully-stained windows with incidents from the Bible marked on them.
The entire church provides a seating for 1,200 people. The special Adoration Chapel is located just at the entrance of the church. The center of attraction is the giant fan which is 12 ft long with five blades that provide breeze to a 60 m surrounding. The air from the fan at a speed of 56RPM is good enough to equate 40 ordinary fans of normal size. This fan costs around Rs 6 lac and has been donated.