Vailankanni

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Velankanni
State - District(s)	Tamil Nadu - Nagapattinam
Area
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Population (2001) - Density	10,144 -

Vailankanni(Meaning:Virgin of Velai,the town), also known as Velankanni or "Velanganni", is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a small town located on the shores of the Bay of Bengal 350 km south of Chennai (Madras) and 12 km south of Nagapattinam on the Coromandel Coast, in Tamil Nadu, India.

Once a port that traded with Rome and Greece, the tiny commercial center gradually lost its importance to the larger Nagapattinam. The canal built to link that city with Vedaranyam still lies to the west of Vailankanni. The Vellayar, a minor branch of the Cauvery River, runs on the south of the village and flows into the sea.

The site of an important Christian shrine, Vailankanni was one of the worst hit areas in the tsunami that followed the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

1 Shrine Vailankanni Basilica
2 Churches representing Vailankanni Mary
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] Shrine Vailankanni Basilica

Local tradition attests to apparitions of Mary, mother of Jesus, at Vailankanni.

Vailankanni church (Our Lady of Good Health) was built in the late 16th century CE with modifications by Portuguese and further expansions later on due to influx of pilgrimages.

The Gothic style of architecture is a unique feature of the church. The church itself is an imposing building with inspiring architecture. While the buildings have been painted white, roof of the church is made by the tiles with striking red in contrast to the colour of the walls. The environment around the shrine is spick and span radiating rays of hope and piety.

As a token of gratitude to Mother Mary, Portuguese sailors who escaped from a severe cyclone, built the chapel 24 feet to 12 feet with a dome overhead. In their possible subsequent visits, perhaps they brought porcelain plates, which could be seen even now illustrating bible scenes and other cultural arts of the time, to beautify the Church they had built earlier. 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.

In the year 1771, Vailankanni acquired the status of a Parish with Fr. Antonio de Rozario as the First Parish Priest.

Vailankanni church was raised to the status of basilica in 1962 by His Holiness Pope John XXIII.

Festivals are celebrated here with all pomp and gaiety. Every year on August 29th the feast of our lady commences with the hoisting of the flag and on the 10th day it ends after the dismounting of the flag. A conservative estimate of the crowd is around 1.5 million on these days (Fifteen hundred thousands). Hotels and houses will be overcrowded during these days and people used to sleep in the open air. Holy masses are conducted in at least eight languages, Tamil, English, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Konkani, Hindi and Marathi.

The Government, for security duty of the feast sends a contingent of 500 police officers, 10 DSPs, 25 Inspectors, 40 SISs and 60 women police. Over and above the Shrine spends enormous amount of money in deploying additional watchmen, sweepers and other work force. A sizable sum is also spent in supplying potable water, and keeping the place clean.

The shrine built a big hall of Museum to display the offerings. Periodically this is changed and the new ones are kept in the showcases.

[edit] Churches representing Vailankanni Mary

Our Lady of Health, South Florida, USA
Church of our lady of vailankanni, Farla,Karnataka,India
Vailakanni Church, Besant Nagar, Chennai,Tamil Nadu, India

[edit] Demographics

As of 2001 India census^GRIndia, Velankanni had a population of 10,144. Males constitute 48% of the population and females 52%. Velankanni has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 75%, and female literacy is 64%. In Velankanni, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.