Velankanni Church
The picture of a person's mind when he is travelling to a particular place for the first time is quite different from the person who had already toured to the place. It is a general assumption that these both persons have different mental perspective. If you are visiting a place for the second time then the motive is just to relax, have fun and bring about some change from the regular daily routine life. But when you are visiting a place for the first time then you will be always curious to know about the lifestyle, cuture, and sociopolitical life of both the ancient and the present of that particular place.
Velankanni Church is located in Nagapattinam. You can travel to Nagapattinam by train, which you can catch from Tambaram station. It is an overnight journey. You can get into Tambaram station within 45 minutes from the Madras central. You can also travel to Nagapattinam by road hire any deluxe or 'call taxis'. These deluxe taxis offer the facility by which you can drive these cabs yourself. You can also hire the call taxis for which you need to call them up and fix your tour and also the charges of your tour. The standard charge of the private cabs is Rs.4.50 per kilometer or Rs.30 per hour. You can also tour to the Velankanni Church in Madras from Trichy and Thanjavur by rail. The distance of Nagapattinam from Madras or Chennai is about 350 kms. Chennai is the present name of the earlier Madras city.
Velankanni Church in Chennai is also called as the 'Mecca of the Christians'. The principal shrine of this Velankanni church is Mother Mary and she is also prayed and worshipped by the people as the Lady of Health. This church is also known as the 'Sacred Arogya Matha Church'. And though it is known as the 'Mecca of Christians' people of all different castes crowd in the feet of the Virgin Mary to receive her blessings.
Also the sight of Velankanni church is stunning with its sky-reaching towers. There is an interesting tradition, which the believers of the Lady of health follow. The person who is diseased offers his body part in the form of candle to Mother Mary. Like if a person has some problem in heart then he will present heart in the shape of a candle and if a person has some problem in liver then he will present the same form in wax. And when the diseased person is healed they offer the healed body parts made up either of gold or silver. The Velankanni Church in Madras also has a museum where all the offerings of the followers of the lady of health are displayed.