velankanni 3

Velankanni has one of the country's biggest Catholic pilgrimage centres

the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health. 

Devoted to Our Lady of Good Health, it is popularly known as the ´Lourdes of the East´.

Its origins can be traced back to the 16th century. 

Though there is no historical document or record about the reputed apparitions of Mary at Vailankanni, oral tradition has passed down the story of two Marian apparitions at Vailankanni in the 16th century and the saving of Portuguese sailors from a storm in the Bay of Bengal in the 17th century.

So the church's founding is attributed to three miracles: 

- the apparition of Mary and Jesus to a slumbering shepherd boy

- the curing of a lame buttermilk vendor

- and the survival of Portuguese sailors assaulted by a violent sea storm. 

Although these alleged apparitions have not been formally approved by the Holy See, they were implicitly approved by Pope John XXIII's 1962 elevation of the Velankanni church to minor basilica status. The Pope's apostolic brief noted that pilgrims in large numbers had been visiting the shrine for a long period of time, and that it was hailed as the ´Lourdes of the East´.

It is built in the Gothic style, was modified by Portuguese and then further expanded later on, due to the influx of pilgrims. Annually, 20 million pilgrims flock to the shrine from all over India and abroad, out of which an estimated 3 million people visit the shrine during its annual festival from 29 August to 8 September. This 11-day annual festival concludes with the celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of Mary on 8 September.

[wikipedia]