Velankanni: From history to religion

 

Mary, mother of Jesus, is believed to have appeared in Velankanni more than once. According to the traditional account, the first apparition took place sometime in the 16^th century, usually dated to around 1570.

The story goes that a young Hindu boy was carrying milk from Velankanni to Nagapattinam for his employer. On the way, he stopped to rest beneath a tree near a pond. A beautiful woman carrying a child appeared before him and requested some milk for her child. The boy willingly gave her some.

When he reached his destination, his employer questioned him about the shortage of milk. The boy explained what had happened. According to the story, the milk pot then became miraculously full.

The employer accompanied the boy back to the place where the encounter had occurred. There, the woman reportedly appeared again. The place became associated with the name Matha Kulam, meaning Mother’s Pond.

There is no contemporary 16^th century written record establishing this apparition. The story survives as part of the local Church’s oral tradition.

The second apparition is traditionally dated to around 1597. A poor boy with a physical disability was selling buttermilk to travellers at a place called Nadu Thittu. One day, a beautiful woman carrying a child appeared and requested some buttermilk. The boy gave it to her. She then asked him to carry a message to a wealthy Catholic gentleman in Nagapattinam, requesting that he build a chapel in her honour.

According to the tradition, the boy discovered that he had been healed when he began walking to deliver the message. The gentleman recognised the significance of the boy’s account and agreed to construct a small chapel. This chapel is traditionally regarded as the beginning of the Marian shrine at Velankanni. The woman was identified by the Christian community as the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus.

Once again, there is no historical evidence for this apparition either.

The third miracle is especially important in explaining the subsequent development of the shrine.

According to this story, a Portuguese merchant vessel travelling from Macau towards Ceylon (Sri Lanka today) encountered a violent storm in the Bay of Bengal. The sailors prayed to Mary asking for protection. They vowed that if they survived, they would build or improve a church in her honour. The storm subsided miraculously and the vessel reached the coast near Velankanni. The sailors reportedly arrived on 8 Sep, the Feast of the Nativity of Mary. They fulfilled their vow by helping to rebuild and enlarge the existing chapel.

The Portuguese presence in the region and the maritime connections are documented, but the particular storm, vow and miraculous rescue have not been established by contemporary independent records.

The seventeenth century: the first documentary evidence

This is where the history becomes particularly significant.

The Catholic Diocese of Thanjavur acknowledges that there are no historical records confirming the apparitions. However, it identifies two important early documentary references to a Christian centre at Velankanni.

The first is a chronicle composed by a Franciscan priest Fr Paulo de Trinidade sometime in 1630-1635. It refers to a Christian centre at Velankanni with a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Health. The second is a letter written in 1642 which mentions the Christian establishment at Velankanni. However, we are not told, in the Diocese’ history, who wrote the letter to whom.

The 17^th century was a period of considerable political and commercial competition along the Coromandel Coast. The Portuguese had established a strong presence at Nagapattinam. Their religious activities were supported by the Portuguese Crown.

However, Portuguese dominance did not last. In 1658-1660, the Dutch East India Company took control of Nagapattinam from the Portuguese. The Dutch were predominantly Protestant and were hostile to some Catholic missionary establishments.

According to the historical account preserved in the shrine’s tradition, Portuguese missionaries were expelled and Catholic institutions were systematically dismantled. However, the chapel at Velankanni survived intact because Velankanni was then a small coastal village which failed to attract Protestant attention.

While the Dutch banned Catholic public worship inside Nagapattinam itself, local Catholic devotion at Velankanni continued undisturbed. The strict initial Dutch restrictions eased over time. By 1670, Franciscan friars were permitted to return to the area. They took responsibility for ministering to the faithful at Velankanni and remained its main custodians throughout the Dutch colonial era.

In Sep 1771, Velankanni became an independent parish. The number of pilgrims and devotees had increased considerably. The Franciscans continued to administer the shrine until 1890.

The shrine underwent a lot of changes eventually until it became a grand basilica on 3 Nov 1962. The year 2002 brought further attention and development to the church. Pope John Paul II declared the church the Lourdes of the East. Lourdes is a famous Catholic pilgrimage centre in France where Mary is believed to have appeared to a local peasant girl as many as 18 times.

Today, Velankanni is a major international Catholic pilgrimage destination. The basilica attracts millions of visitors annually. The church also operates various charitable and social institutions, including educational and healthcare facilities.

PS. All 3 illustrations are taken from Femina Shoumi's book Our Lady of Good Health: The Lourdes of the East

The historical question: Was there a Hindu temple at Velankanni before the church? We’ll look at that tomorrow.

Previous posts in this series

Velankanni: History

Velankanni and ChristianMissionaries