Silvester D'Souza

Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (MS)

Kundapur, Oct 7: The Our Lady of Holy Rosary Church of Kundapur is very ancient. This is the oldest church of Udupi district. This was founded by Portuguese in 1570. This church has got a rich history of 450 years. The first Holy Rosary church is in Kote Bagilu. Gradually, the place was shifted and was built at the present location.

This church is the second oldest church of undivided district of Dakshina Kannada. The first is the Rosario Cathedral of Mangaluru. That was established in 1568. There was no church in the province of Karwar before 1570, when the church at Kundapur was built. The devotion towards Our Lady of Holy Rosary in this church that was built by the Portuguese was continued by the priests that came from Goa as well as the local devotees. Earlier, the limits of this church extended far.

The first Indian to be nominated as the parish priest is Fr Joseph Vas of Kundapur. Many miracles have taken place in his name. He was given sainthood by Pope Francis in the year 2015. It is good luck that the service of such a noble person was available to the people of Kundapur.

"This year we are going to start the 450th year celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Rosary on October 7. This celebration will last one year. We have planned several activities till 2020 like religious and social programme and also the renovation of the church building. So our media convener Bernard D'Costa will give complete details of the programmes to media. The media people can contact him. Let Our Lady of Rosary bless all the people of this land and let all good things bestow on them," said parish priest Fr Stany Tauro in a press release.