by Vinay Pais (GA)

Kundapur, Feb 23: Byndoor parish occupies a special place in Mangalore diocese. This church is situated at a distance of 140 kilometres from Mangalore at the extreme north of the Mangalore diocese and 42 kilometres from Kundapur, and is located at the border of Udupi and North Kanara Districts.  This church is surrounded by Trasi and Padukone of Mangalore diocese and Bhatkal and Kalmakki parishes of Karwar Diocese.

Even before the captivity there was a church at Byndoor, which was destroyed by Tipu Sultan. History puts it that a church was constructed at Byndoor in 1783.  In 1850, a Mission Station was established here.  A chapel was in existence there prior to 1894.  It was served from Gangolli.  Fr Cajetan Suares was appointed the first resident priest in 1912.  It was once again reverted to Gangolli.  In 1915 Fr A.E. Coelho was appointed to be the resident parish priest.  In 1924 it was reverted to Gangolli once again until 1925 when it had the resident priest.  It attained the status of an independent parish on March 11, 1928 by a decree of Bishop Valerian J D’Souza.   Fr Alex P D’Souza of Gangolli who had worked hard for the establishment of the Byndoor parish became the first parish priest.

While Byndoor parish occupies a historical place in annals of Mangalore diocese, in the recent years, Holy Cross Hill near the Church has been attracting huge number of devotees.  Day-by-day the Holy Cross Hill is gaining prominence among the religious-minded people of coastal districts. Special prayers, worships and para-liturgical celebrations are held on the Hill on every Friday at 4 pm.  Pilgrims not only from Kundapur, Udupi but also from neighbouring Bhatkal come here for prayers,.

While most of the parishes in Mangalore diocese celebrate their parish fests (vhodlem fest) by January end, Byndoor holds it on the previous Tuesday and Wednesday of Ash Wednesday. This effectively means that the season of Vhodlem fest in the diocese comes to an end with the parish feast  of Byndoor.  While the parish feast is celebrated on Tuesday and Sunday, a similar celebration is held at Holy Cross Hill on the next Sunday.  Accordingly this year while the feast was held on February 13 and 14, celebrations on the Holy Cross Hill was held on Sunday February 18 on a grand scale.  Hundreds of devotees from neighbouring parishes thronged in and partook in the feast.

The Holy Cross was consecrated on May 5, 1935 and the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the same were held in 1985.  The then parish priest Fr Maxim Furtado constructed a Memorial building on the hill on May 3, 1985.    Fr Thomas D’Souza erected the Stations of the Cross along the way to the Holy Cross Hill and the stations were blessed by the Vicar General, Msgr Edwin C Pinto on May 8, 2000.

The present Byndoor parish priest Fr Francis Cornelio, is of the opinion that the believers visiting the place are the living testimony to the devotion and popularity of Holy Cross Hill.   Under the guidance of Kundapur dean Fr Anthony Lobo the devotees believe that the centre would progress further and reflect the religious sentiments of all sections of the society at large.