COVID-19: St. Antony’s Feast held symbolically at Dornahalli

The historical Dornahalli Jatra was cancelled for the last two consecutive years due to pandemic

Mysore/Mysuru: The Annual Feast of St. Anthony’s Basilica at Dornahalli in K.R. Nagar, Mysuru District, was held online and in a symbolic manner on Sunday from 7 am in view of the COVID crisis.

The Church was closed for the public and only a few devotees were seen praying on the premises. 

Mysuru Bishop Rev. K.A. William took part in the feast and the solemn festival mass was streamed at 6 am on Youtube.

According to Church Administrator Issac Ratnakar, the Mass in Kannada and Novena prayer were held at 7 am, while Mass in Tamil and Novena prayer were held at 8 am followed by Mass in English and Novena prayer at 9 am.

The historical Dornahalli Jatra was cancelled for the last two consecutive years due to Covid-19 pandemic. The annual feast held for nine days used to draw lakhs of people every year and was celebrated in a grand manner. Last year too the feast was scaled down from nine to three days. This year no special rituals were held even on the ninth day, yesterday. 

Fr. S. T. Joseph said that the festival had been cancelled and entry of devotees was restricted to the Church for the last two years. In his message he said, “We pray for the well-being of the people during the pandemic. People should follow Covid guidelines imposed by the Government and get vaccinated. We can celebrate the festival in a grand manner next year.”