My recent trip to the pilgrimage town of Vailankanni in Tamil Nadu was a memorable one. Though this was not my first visit, this outstation trip after a gap of nearly three years was quite different from my earlier experiences.
I was filled with great enthusiasm as we waited patiently at Margao Railway Station for the Weekly Velankanni Express. I had waited anxiously for this much deserved break. There was quite a crowd waiting for the same train, and as soon as it arrived, there was a mad dash to board it, in an attempt to search for their respective seats.
There were quite a few Goans heading in the same direction and once we finally took our seats, we were greeted by the other families sharing our compartment and that kicked off our journey, with sweet conversations and shared stories.
As we neared Molem, the passengers, especially the younger crowd, were excited to click photos of Dudhsagar waterfall. As our train halted at several stations, we filled our empty stomachs with the variety of foods and snacks from different places, as the vendors entered our compartments, luring us with their varied items.
We had initially planned to go to Vailankanni for the annual festival that concludes with the celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of Mary on September 8, but a huge waiting-list prompted us to postpone our dates of travel.
Vailankanni has one of the country’s biggest Catholic pilgrimage centres, the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health. Devoted to Our Lady of Good Health, it is popularly known as the ‘Lourdes of the East’. Its origins can be traced back to the 16th century. The Church’s founding is attributed to three miracles: The apparition of Mary and Jesus to a slumbering shepherd boy; the curing of a lame buttermilk vendor; and the survival of Portuguese sailors assaulted by a violent sea storm. It is built in the Gothic style, was modified by the Portuguese and then further expanded later, due to the influx of pilgrims. The church building was raised to the status of basilica in 1962 by Pope John XXIII.
Annually, 20 million pilgrims flock to the shrine from all over India and abroad, out which, an estimated 3 million people visit the shrine during its annual festival from August 29 to September 8. The 11-day annual festival concludes with the celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of Mary on September 8. Thousands of Goan devotees throng to the Vailankanni shrine during this period, to attend Novenas and the Feast.
We first visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, also known as Annai Vailankanni Shrine. People of all faiths come to pray at the Basilica. Near Vailankanni Shrine, you see several devotees walk on their knees on a hard, hot sand path for almost 1500m in penance. Some devotees even crawl on this sandy path, without any concern for the elements or the pain. I admire these devotees for their courage; it was a humbling experience that teaches strength.
I was also impressed by the newly built Morning Star Church for Our Lady of Vailankanni. When I had visited this place three years ago, this Church was under construction. The architecture of this Church is elegant and amazing.
Though there were language barriers in our conversation with the waiters and room service boys, I was impressed by their service.
The return journey involved two train rides: One from Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu to Thrissur, Kerala and then from Thrissur to Margao, Goa. Our compartment in the Nagapattinam to Thrissur train had an elderly gentleman who was travelling to Trichy and a middle aged lady with her daughter who was travelling to Kerala. Here is when I encountered the most difficult phase of my travelling experience, as I was unable to converse with any of them. The elderly gentleman started a conversation with me in Tamil, to which I replied in hand gestures, expressing that I wasn’t able to follow what he was saying. He followed this with another incomprehensible question, which, as per his gestures, seemed that he was asking me to where I was travelling. I replied, “Goa.” Then he excalimed “Hindi,” and from then on, our conversation began in Hindi. Within a short while, the lady sitting next to me tried to converse in Malayalam but was told by the elderly gentleman that I only understood Hindi. As she didn’t know Hindi, we had a conversation of sorts with hand gestures and signals. It would have been so much easier if we knew at least some basic words or sentences or at least a few Indian languages.
Though our return trip from Thrissur to Margao, Goa was a bit annoying due to a train delay of almost four hours at Thrissur station, we were glad to encounter several warm, courteous people on our trip, who made our journey a really memorable one.