Catholic Konkani Convention in literature held at Milagres Hall

Catholic Konkani Convention in literature held at Milagres Hall

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Oct 01, 2018: As part of the closing event of the  very popular two day (Sept 29 & 30), exhibition of thousands of Rosaries and religious objects at Milagres hall (See our earlier report).  The church organisers conducted a Konkani literature exposition and convention, it focused of the local  Konkani Catholic literature and the history of Konkani use and glory in Mangalore church since the first arrival 450 years ago in the middle of the 16th century, of the Konkani Catholic converts from ’Saraswat’ roots. The wide range of Konkani publications indeed  was an eye opener for the thousands that flocked the individual stalls set up by various organisations/publishers, hopefully the readership of Konkani has not significantly dropped, because the many educated still like reading Konkani in the Kannada script.

 

 

 

The Konkani Marian Convention as part of the closing session  interested many and the well organised symposium was a memorable effort by  Rosario and Milagres parishes and several others here. It commenced with an old tradition of celebration "Gumta Podam", sing song using the percussion sounds of earthen pots; the content of the singing was in honour of Mary the mother of Christ. The well known ’Bonam Gumta Team’ of Pidmale Niddodi performed appreciably.
 
 Presided over by Rev Dr. Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Emeritus Bishop of Mangalore,  the key note speaker was Rev Chetan Lobo, Capuchin who is the editor of ’Uzvaad’ the official weekly of the Udupi diocese, he is it’s PRO as well, Roy Castelino former President of the DK Konkani academy, M P Noronha who is a leader of the diocese in several ways, the chief co-ordinator of the two day event and Parish priest of Rosario Rev J B Crasta, Rev Valerian D’Souza the parish priest of Milgres were active members.  The editor of the weekly magazine of the Mangalore diocese " Rakkno" Rev. Valerian Fernandes conducted the meet.

The speakers Rev  Chetan Capuchin, Roy Castelino and the Bishop dealt with the progress of Konkani Christian literature even before the arrival of Portugese in Goa in early 16th century. The different facades of Konkani literature in Kannada script over the last 400 years was well presented by to the speakers.  The influence of Kannada on Konkiani in the last decades has been noticeably evident in all it’s facets.  The many writers of Konkani were recalled and their contribution from the times of the usage of ’Christu Purana’ when people could not read and learned the prayers by rote. Incidentally the hand written copy of the ’Christu purana’ was on display at the Alousius College stall with several old books and the Curator of the Aloysiusm was present to explain the valuable history. The prayer forms, hymns and music, social publications and so on were explained and participants were greatly enthused. The presentation on Konkani ’’Vovyo’, during weddings and other celebrations in the Konkani culture and it’s connection with the Tuluva Karavali land was an eye opener and applauded.

The Bishop highlighted that the high place given to Mother Mary has originated from Europe and the west...but our own community has not lagged behind, as can be fathomed in Konkani ethos here, It is essential he said for families to follow in the traditions established by our ascendants and extended in to modern day life with modern amenities and IT.  An informative pictorial folder in full colour with many photographs detailing the first church and later Rosario Cathedral on Mangalore soil was released and is a fitting memento of the 450 years history of the church here.   

The convention was rounded off by a ’Marian Magic Show’ newly formulated by the well known and reputed magician priest of the diocese,  Rev Ivan Madtha for over 30 minutes; the many titles of Mother Mary and the goodness of works of Christ relevant to the Biblical episodes,  were highlighted through magic items and made a lasting impression on the audience with which the hall was packed.  This Konkani convention made a good impact  on a wide cross section of people here and will be a cherished memory for long.