Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health Church - Velankanni

Popularly known as the ‘Lourdes of the East’, the Velankanni church is one of the most revered pilgrimages for Catholic Christians in India and the world. Located on the coast on Bay of Bengal, this shrine is believed to have been the site of three 16th century miracles, one involving the virgin sparing the life of sailors at the sea, another involving appearance of the virgin to a shepherd boy, and the third involving a cure of a lame buttermilk seller. A shepherd boy named Krishnannesti Sankaranarayanan was performing his usual duty of carrying milk from Velankanni to his master at Nagapattinam. Despite the morning freshness, fatigue overcame him as he was passing by a water pond of this town. Placing the milk pot near the water pond, the boy fell into an unusual slumber, only to be startled to his feet by the sweet vision of a beautiful lady holding in her hand of divine appearance.

The boy could not come out of the divinity that the lady had and he offered the milk to her on her request. The impatient master was not ready to believe the story of the boy. But to the greater astonishment of all present, the milk began to surge over the empty pot and flow out. On reaching the place of apparition, the gentleman and others began to believe her appearance. The place where this story happened was later called as ‘Matha Kulam’ (Our Lady's Tank). Around the end of the 16th century, a poor widow and her lame son lived in Velankanni. The same lady appeared before him and asked the boy for buttermilk. She directed him to go and inform a catholic father at Nagapattinam to put up a Chapel in her name on the spot of her apparition. The boy became a normal person with her blessings. With the support of the people, built a Chapel at 'Nadu Thittu' where now stands the present Basilica, in the name 'Our Lady of Good Health'. In the 17th century, a Portuguese vessel was caught in a giant storm in the Bay of Bengal as it was sailing from China to Sri Lanka.

The helpless sailors prayed fervently for Mary to get out of this disaster. They subsequently vowed to build a Church in her name, wherever they could land on. With her grace, the stormy sea became calm. Their ship landed near the shore of Vailankanni and came to know about the Chapel already there. They contributed much wealth to make it bigger. To felicitate that occassion from that time, they celebrate the annual feast every year preceded by hoisting of the flag in the last week of August. The Church is built in a Gothic style with vestiges of Portuguese architecture as well. The church was given the status of Basilica by the Pope in the year 1962. The once thatched chapel is now an impressive building. The faith in the Mother is so strong here that candles offered by the pilgrims are in the shape of the organ which the devotee wants to cure. Once the pilgrim is blessed and the disease is cured, he/she offers a silver or golden replica of the cured organ to the Lady of Good Health.