Velankkani

Once a port that traded with Rome and Greece. Velankanni Church is an important Roman Catholic shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Good Health. Portuguese sailors who escaped from a severe cyclone, built the 24 feet by 12 feet chapel, with a dome overhead. They also brought porcelain plates, which can be seen illustrating biblical scenes and other cultural arts of the time. The main statue that they had brought to the altar of the Shrine was Our Lady holding the Baby Jesus, standing majestically on the globe. Velankanni is attributed to three miracles, the apparition of Mary and the Christ Child to a slumbering shepherd boy, the curing of a lame buttermilk vendor and the rescue of Portuguese sailors from a violent sea storm. Holy masses are conducted in at least eight languages, Tamil, English, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Konkani, Hindi and Marathi. Velankanni Church is considered a very powerful holy place in India where one is cured of any ailment when one offers prayers with a true heart. Devotees often offer gifts made of gold or silver for cure of sickness.