Velankanni: History

 

The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health at Velankanni is one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage centres in Asia. It is popularly called the Lourdes of the East. One man named Vidyasagar Gurumoorthy, who claims to be a Hindu ascetic, has been making vociferous claims about the Hindu roots of this church in the last few weeks. There’s absolutely no historical evidence for his claim.

Velankanni was a small fishing/coastal village which did not draw the attention of any historian or traveller until the Portuguese arrived in the area. Nagapattinam was the nearest place of any importance because of its seaport which had trade relations with the Romans and Greeks for centuries.

Buddhist activity in Nagapattinam is well documented. The Chudamani Vihara, a Buddhist monastery, was built or endowed in the early 11^th century with support from Chola king Rajaraja I and the Srivijaya (Sailendra) rulers of Sumatra. There were also Hindu temples and local goddess (Amman) worship along this stretch of coast. But Velankanni does not find any mention in any recorded history, not even in Sangam literature and early medieval Tamil sources. That is to say, Velankanni was a nondescript place of absolutely no significance at that time. It is simply improbable that any major temple existed there.

The history of Velankanni is particularly interesting now because it brings together several strands of Indian history: local religious traditions, the arrival of European missionaries, Portuguese maritime activity, colonial rivalries, the development of Catholic Christianity in Tamil Nadu, and the growth of popular pilgrimage.

Though the existence and historical development of the Christian shrine are supported by documentary evidence, the stories of Mary's apparitions and miracles belong primarily to religious oral tradition. History and legend mingle seamlessly in Velankanni.

The Historical Setting

Velankanni is a coastal settlement in present-day Nagapattinam district, on the Coromandel Coast of Tamil Nadu. The region had a long history of maritime trade, fishing, cultural exchange and religious diversity. Nagapattinam, a nearby port, was an important centre of international commerce. Traders and sailors connected the Coromandel Coast with Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and other parts of the Indian Ocean.

Christianity had reached parts of the Tamil coast long before the construction of the present basilica. The Portuguese established themselves at Nagapattinam around 1520-1530, though their formal commercial settlement developed later. In 1533, approximately 30 Portuguese residents were reported in Velankanni. The community grew slowly, largely through trade with Sri Lanka.

The Tamil Nadu government’s Nagapattinam district history says that the Portuguese established their commercial centre in 1554 and that Christianity began taking root in the area through their presence.

However, according to the history published by the Diocese of Thanjavur, Christianity existed in the region even before the arrival of the Portuguese. This history refers to the Italian traveller Ludovico de Varthema who visited Nagapattinam in 1505. Varthema recorded the presence of indigenous Christians there. This means that Christianity in Nagapattinam cannot simply be explained as something introduced by Portuguese missionaries.

It should be remembered here that there were much older Christian traditions in South India, particularly the communities associated with ST Thomas Christianity on the Malabar Coast and the ancient Christian tradition of Mylapore.

The Portuguese arrival in India began with Vasco da Gama’s landing in 1498. Gama’s arrival at Calicut, now Kozhikode, on 20 May 1498 was one of the most consequential events in the history of the Indian Ocean. It opened a direct sea route between Europe and India around the Cape of Good Hope. It also initiated a period of Portuguese commercial expansion, military intervention and missionary activity along India’s western and eastern coasts.

The Portuguese presence eventually supported the arrival of Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries in South India.

 It is important to note that the Portuguese did not arrive in an unknown or isolated India. They entered a sophisticated commercial world in which Arab, Persian, Gujarati, Malabari, Chinese and other merchants had traded for centuries. We may also recall that direct trade relations between Rome and India began shortly after Octavian (Augustus) annexed Egypt in 30 BCE. [Augustus is the religious and political title Octavian assumed upon becoming Rome’s first emperor.]

Indirect trade existed earlier via Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid overland routes. Augustus’s conquest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom gave Rome direct access to Red Sea ports like Berenike. Around the late 1^st century BCE, Roman navigators mastered the seasonal monsoon winds, allowing merchant fleets to sail straight across the Arabian Sea to the western ports of India, most notably Muziris along the Malabar Coast of Kerala and Arikamedu on the Coromandel Coast.

It is not improbable that Thomas, the disciple of Jesus, took one of those ships and landed in Kerala, though there is no conclusive historical evidence for it.

The simple truth is that history remains very vague when we go back beyond 15^th century Velankanni. Claims about Hindu temples or any such structures are likely to be politically motivated rather than founded on convincing evidence or even probability.

Tomorrow: Velankanni and Christian Missionaries

Vidyasagar Gurumoorthy

PS. I’m taking an unusual personal interest in this matter merely because I find it very distressing to see religious people behaving like venal politicians. If religion becomes a cause for public strife and mutual hatred, it has no place in human civilisation. People like Vidyasagar Gurumoorthy are doing a historical disservice to Hinduism by making mendacious claims on history. I’m not a religious believer. But religion has always fascinated me as an interesting subject of study. The more I study it, the stronger my disbelief becomes.