Bible Skit competition

On the occasion of feast of "Nativity of Mother Mary" (Monthi Fest) ICYM , barkur unit organized a Bible Skit Competition. A large number of  children participated in this competetion . Rev. Fr. Remigious Araha, Parish Priest, Mr. Gerald Gonsalves, Vice President, Mr. Glen Monis, Varado ICYM President were the judges. In the Primary group (1^st   to 7^th   std) , first  prize was bagged by Miss Priyal D'Almeida & Group, Hosala - St. Lawrence ward and the 2^nd  prize went to Miss Jasmine Andrade & party, Nagarmutt ward and Miss Caroline D'Almeida, Halekody got the 3rd prize.

In the High School category,  Mr. Franklin Fernandes & Party, Nagarmutt were the winners and Miss Deepti Dias & Party, Hosala were the runners. Mr. Roshan D'Souza & party, Nagarmutt secured the 1^st   prize in the college category and Mr. Rolbin D'Souza & Party, Kachur secured the 2^nd   place.

Children dressed like Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist, Peter, Judas, etc., tried their level best to bring life in these characters .

-News and Foto: Harry DSouza

Sri Chandrashekar Shetty gets best teacher award

barkuronline is glad to announce that yet another teacher from Barkur is selected for the Best Teacher award and this time it is from  the "Karnataka State Press Reporters Association, Bangalore" as it  selected the Head Master of S R S M Higher Primary School, Heradi, Barkur as the Best Teacher  from Udupi District and the award will be presented to him at Bangalore.

Born in Nadumane, Barkur,  on 18^th     June 1947, Mr. Shetty has  35 years of service in the field of education . Initially he served at National Higher Primary School, Hanehalli and later transferred to Heradi School as head master. After him taking over the charge, Heradi School saw tremendous development and today it is one of the  best primary schools in Barkur. He is also an active Rotary member of Rotary Club,  Saiberkatte.

Married to Ms Yashoda Shetty , the couple is blessed with  three children,  Ajith, Amitha and Smitha.

At this happy occasion we all at barkuronline along with all Barkurians wish Mr Chandrashekar Shetty all the success  and  many more awards in his career.

I C Y M, Barkur gets the Award

As reported in this columbn earlier ICYM, Barkur unit was concluded as the second best unit among all units in the Mangalore Diocese. The proud members along with Animators and Asst. Director, Rev. Fr. Wilfred D'Souza received this prestigious award recently at a colourful ceremony  held at Kulshekar, Mangalore.  

Monthi Festh Celebrated at Barkur

Traditional Monthi Festh, Nativity  of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated at Barkur on 8^th September. At 8.30 am all the parishioners gathered near the residence of Mr. James Mendonca where the New Rice Corns were blessed and then taken to the church in a procession with  lot of children showering flowers on the image  of Infant Mary through out the way.

Blessed  fresh rice corns were distributed to the parishioners after the mass and children were distributed with sugarcane.

Barkur parish bulletin Pedruchi Chavi, UAE special issue was released at this occassion. Honororay editor Mr.Pius James D’Souza  who is at Barkur on holidays, formally released the issue and the same was distributed to the parishioners. The winners of the Pedruchi Chavi Quiz were honored with prizes.  Copies of this special issue will be posted to all the non resident Barkurians as soon as possible.

About Monthi Festh by Richie Lasrado, www.daijiworld.com

There is curiosity among the non-Christians about the feast of the Nativity, celebrated every year on September 8. These little leads might help in  understanding the spirit behind it.

For the Konkani-speaking Catholic community living in the districts of Dakshina  Kannada, Uttar Kannada and Udupi, the day of September 8 has special significance. It is celebrated not only as the birthday of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, but as the day of the New Rice as well. A devotional service called Novena is held on the nine days preceding the feast.

On these days, children bring an assortment of flowers, assiduously and aesthetically arranged in trays, plates, baskets and the like, to their respective churches. Mother Mary is collectively honoured by the children at a unique 'flower-showering' ceremony on all the nine days. On the feast day, the children are rewarded for their enthusiasm and effort with sugarcane and other eats.

On the traditional side, the day is treated with a religious touch, when the ears of the new corn, freshly cut from the paddy fields, are taken to the churches and prayed over. The occasion is marked by thanksgiving for the blessing of a good harvest. Then the ears are distributed to all to take home for a joint family meal. It is a well-kept custom for the families of married daughters or sons staying out of town to converge at the parental house in celebrating the feast.

But, interestingly however, the rice taken home is not cooked and consumed, for the simple reason that as per our districts' agricultural calendar, September 8 is too early a date for the rice to be properly formed inside the husks of the paddy. Hence the formative rice is powdered and mixed with a sweet juice made of coconut milk, jaggery etc. with a generous dash of cardamom. After prayers have been offered for the departed souls of the family and also for those members who may be away on employment or domiciled elsewhere, a small cupful of juice is ingested by everyone at the table, in the order of seniority. It is not uncommon to find a few tears being shed as proof that someone near and dear is being sorely missed.

Normally, any celebration in the Catholic community is marked by a two or three-course lunch or dinner. But this Novem-fest or Montifest is in a class of its own because moderation is the hallmark and abstinence is the running theme. Almost as an unwritten rule, meat and alcohol are regarded as taboo, although there could be exceptions these days.

For decades, or maybe, centuries, the sanctity of the feast has been dedicatedly and religiously cherished and protected. It is common to find different kinds of vegetables being prepared and served. For no explicable reason, the number of dishes are always ensured to be an odd number, the most common being thirteen. Nothing superstitious about that!

News and Fotos : Kishoo, Barkur

Varamahalaxmi Pooja Performed

Varamahalaxmi Pooja, having a special significance amongst all the poojas, was performed at almost all temples in Barkur. The Pooja which was  performed on Friday, which was nearer to the full moon  day in "Shravanamasa". The belief is that whoever performs this pooja  in Shravanamasa will get lot of benefits they wanted. Specially married  ladies were seen performing the pooja for the welfare of their families.