Mangaluru: The feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Monti Fest, was celebrated with fervor in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Kasargod district on Saturday. Monti is the Konkani name of Mother Mary. The festivities begin nine days in advance and culminate in the feast that marks the birth anniversary of Mother Mary.

The church priest blessed the new paddy at Rosario Cathedral in Mangaluru. Similarly, St. Lawrence Church in Bondel, Urva Church, Holy Cross Church of Kulasekhar and churches in Puttur, Belthangady, Sulya, Bantwal Taluk were thronged by the devotees.

The new rice meal is made of milk, coconut milk, and milk powder by crushing rice grain rice in the wake of the festival.

Meal prepared with the paddy and milk is the special food for this festival.

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Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka High Court on Monday extended the interim relief given to Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh till March 9, in a case related to mimicking a character from the movie, 'Kantara Chapter-1', and allegedly mocking a deity.

The actor had approached the High Court seeking the quashing of the FIR against him for mimicking Rishab Shetty's role as 'Chavunda' deity in the movie.

While mimicking, Singh had called the deity a "ghost". The actor was asked to appear before the court in person on Monday.

Appearing on behalf of the actor, his counsel Sajjan Poovayya said Singh was stuck in London and was unable to reach Bengaluru due to the conflict in West Asia.

The complainant, who is a lawyer, alleged that his religious sentiments were hurt by calling the deity a ghost. On the directions of a local Court, the police registered a case against the actor.

The High Court on February 24 granted interim relief to the actor with directions to the police not to take any coercive steps against him.