My Travelogue to Velankanni, The land of miracles

Date of Travel : 2^nd November 2011 To 4^th November 2011. So there are chances the details provided in this blog may not be correct if you are reading this in a very future date. 


Velankanni, officially spelled as Vailankanni (Virgin of Velai, the town), also spelled as “Velanganni” (due to Tamil to English Transliteration), is a Parish under Tanjore Roman Catholic Diocese and 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. (From Wikipedia). Though no historical records exist, according to an age old and strong tradition Our Lady appeared to two poor boys besides saving the Portuguese sailors from shipwreck in Vailankanni and this led to the origin of a Marian Shrine at Vailankanni centuries back. 
When to Visit
Vailankanni festival is celebrated every year from August 29 to September 8. During these days the church complex will be crowded with lots of people and you can expect all the demerits of a crowded area like unable to get a hotel room, pollution, difficult for silent prayer etc. We planned to visit Velankanni in November since it is a time we expect not to have much crowd there. Also there will be slight raining in November and hence the atmosphere will not be hot. Weekend days will also be crowded. 
Travel
We booked train tickets online through www.irctc.co.in\
The train is ERS Nagore Express (former Tea garden express). This train ply between Ernakulam South (Junction) Rly station to Nagore Railway station and is awailable on all days in a week. We need to get down at Nagapattinam(NGT) railway station. Our starting station was Ernakulam North (ERN). The return train is Ernakulam Express.  
Ticket Cost 

Type	Adult	Child	Senior Male	Senior Female
Sleeper	241	141	161	141
First class	737	401	469	401
3 AC	650	368	424	368
2 AC	891	498	577	498
1 AC	1484	810	945	810

Train Schedule 

Train No Train Name Runs From Source Runs On 16866 ERS NAGORE EXP ERANAKULAM JN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN

SNo Stn Code Stn Name Route No. Arrival Time Dep. Time Halt Time (In Minutes) Distance Day 1 ERS ERANAKULAM JN 1 Source 22:05 0 1 2 ERN ERNAKULAM TOWN 1 22:10 22:12 2:00 3 1 3 IPL IDAPLLI 1 22:21 22:22 1:00 9 1 4 AWY ALUVA 1 22:34 22:37 3:00 20 1 5 AFK ANGAMALI 1 22:46 22:47 1:00 29 1 6 CKI CHALAKUDI 1 23:03 23:04 1:00 44 1 7 IJK IRINJALAKUDA 1 23:13 23:14 1:00 51 1 8 TCR THRISUR 1 23:40 23:45 5:00 75 1 9 WKI WADAKANCHERI 1 00:04 00:05 1:00 91 2 10 OTP OTTAPPALAM 1 01:04 01:05 1:00 120 2 11 PGT PALAKKAD 1 01:30 01:35 5:00 152 2 12 PTJ PODANUR JN 1 02:44 02:45 1:00 200 2 13 CBE COIMBATORE JN 1 02:55 03:00 5:00 206 2 14 TUP TIRUPPUR 1 03:44 03:45 1:00 256 2 15 ED ERODE JN 1 04:35 04:40 5:00 307 2 16 KMD KODUMUDI 1 05:14 05:15 1:00 345 2 17 PGR PUGALUR 1 05:29 05:30 1:00 357 2 18 KRR KARUR 1 05:47 05:50 3:00 372 2 19 KLT KULITALAI 1 06:29 06:30 1:00 411 2 20 TP TIRCHRPALI FORT 1 07:19 07:20 1:00 444 2 21 TPJ TIRUCHCHIRAPALI 1 07:40 07:50 10:00 448 2 22 TJ THANJAVUR 1 08:43 08:45 2:00 498 2 23 NMJ NIDAMANGALAM 1 09:14 09:15 1:00 528 2 24 TVR THIRUVARUR JN 1 09:35 09:40 5:00 552 2 25 NGT NAGAPPATTINAM 1 10:10 10:15 5:00 575 2 26 NCR NAGORE 1 11:45 Destination 582 2

 Return Train Schedule 

Train No Train Name Runs From Source Runs On 16865 ERNAKULAM EXP NAGORE MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN

SNo Stn Code Stn Name Route No. Arrival Time Dep. Time Halt Time (In Minutes) Distance Day 1 NCR NAGORE 1 Source 16:30 0 1 2 NGT NAGAPPATTINAM 1 16:40 16:45 5:00 8 1 3 TVR THIRUVARUR JN 1 17:25 17:30 5:00 31 1 4 NMJ NIDAMANGALAM 1 17:54 17:55 1:00 55 1 5 TJ THANJAVUR 1 18:23 18:25 2:00 85 1 6 TPJ TIRUCHCHIRAPALI 1 20:00 20:10 10:00 135 1 7 TP TIRCHRPALI FORT 1 20:19 20:20 1:00 139 1 8 KLT KULITALAI 1 20:54 20:55 1:00 172 1 9 KRR KARUR 1 21:36 21:40 4:00 211 1 10 PGR PUGALUR 1 21:56 21:57 1:00 226 1 11 KMD KODUMUDI 1 22:09 22:10 1:00 238 1 12 ED ERODE JN 1 23:00 23:05 5:00 276 1 13 UKL UTTUKULI 1 23:38 23:40 2:00 313 1 14 TUP TIRUPPUR 1 23:57 23:58 1:00 326 1 15 CBE COIMBATORE JN 1 00:55 01:00 5:00 377 2 16 PTJ PODANUR JN 1 01:19 01:20 1:00 383 2 17 PGT PALAKKAD 1 02:20 02:25 5:00 431 2 18 OTP OTTAPPALAM 1 02:54 02:55 1:00 463 2 19 WKI WADAKANCHERI 1 03:24 03:25 1:00 492 2 20 TCR THRISUR 1 03:50 03:53 3:00 508 2 21 IJK IRINJALAKUDA 1 04:19 04:20 1:00 532 2 22 CKI CHALAKUDI 1 04:29 04:30 1:00 539 2 23 AFK ANGAMALI 1 04:49 04:50 1:00 554 2 24 AWY ALUVA 1 05:12 05:15 3:00 563 2 25 IPL IDAPLLI 1 05:29 05:30 1:00 574 2 26 ERN ERNAKULAM TOWN 1 05:40 05:43 3:00 580 2 27 ERS ERANAKULAM JN 1 06:15 Destination 582 2

Reaching Velankanni from Nagapattinam
 2 passenger trains ply between nagapattinam to Velankanni (VLKN) railway station .
1)  Nagore Velankanni Passenger train (Number : 76813)  - at 9:45 AM2)
2)  NGT Velankanni Passenger  (Number : 76817)  - at 11:40 AM  
It will take around 30-40 minutes to reach Velankanni railway station. Passenger train goes very slow. The ticket charge is Rs.2/- Since these are connection trains, you can always find any of these trains even if the Nagore express train is late.  If you want to reach early, then there are frequent bus services and tempo travellers plying between Nagapattinam railway station and Velankanni. The road is in very good condition when we visited. For return journey also you can get any of these options.  The Railway station and Bus stand are at a walkabale distance from Velankanni Churches and Hotels.  You can find lots of Autoriksha services in Velankanni. Minimum charge is Rs.30/-  
Accommodation
There are lots of private hotels and church’s pilgrim quarters. As usual private hotels will charge a higher rent. 
 http://www.hotelsinvelankanni.info/hotelsinvelankanni/ - this is a good site having information about the hotels in Velankanni.
http://www.hotelseagate.co.in/index.htm - website of seagate group of hotels in velankanni.
 There are numerous cottages and dormitories  arranged by the church itself for the pilgrims. These are also have moderate budget, luxurious rooms etc but price is very less compared to private hotels. I think for Non-AC double bedroom, its only Rs. 270/- in a church cottage but in a private hotel, the same will be above Rs.800/- . But you can expect more cleanliness and facilities in a private hotel . I am not sure since I have seen only private hotel rooms. On the way to church, I saw St.Joseph’s Quarters (its one of church cottages) . It looks very shabby. May be its an old building. But there are some newly built cottages which looks good from outside. Don’t know how the rooms will be.  The church rooms are booked from a single station. It is located in front of the Velankanni Bus stand. I think we can book through phone also.  
Contact Address:
Very Rev. Fr. P. Xavier Rector ,Shrine Basilica, Vailankanni, 611 111. Nagapattinam, District Tamilnadu, INDIA
04365 : 263 530 (Father’s personal) 04365 : 263 517 (Father’s Fax) 04365 : 263 423 (Shrine Number) 
For Accommodation: 04365 : 264 890 (Ask them to direct you to the Room booking place) 04365 : 263 421   
Food
There are lots of hotels, Tea shops and church canteens available near to the churches. I have tried seaside church canteen, Restaurant in hotel Sea-Gate and Kerala restaurant in front of hotel Picnic. Out of this Kerala restaurant in front of hotel Picnic is a very good one with moderate price but very less seats inside this restaurant. Seaside church canteen is not at all hygienic. But there is a church canteen near to “Lady’s Tank church”. We can see it when we walk through the holy path. This canteen looks good from outside.  Apart from these there is hotel Aryabhavan, hotel Saravanas etc.  
Church campus Maps

Details of the above Vailankanni Sketch

1. Shrine Basilica 2. Our Lady of Dolours Church 3. Museum of Offerings 3A. Blessed Oil Counter 3B. Book Stall-Museum Upstairs 4. St. Antony’s Qts 5. Shrine Depot (presbytery-groung floor) 6. Presbytery 7. Car & Sapparam Shed 8. Stores 9. Little Flower Qts 10. Fountain 11. Home for the Aged 12. Adoration & Reconciliation chapel 13. Generator Room 14. St. Luke’s Qts 15. Infant Jesus Qts 16. Christu Raja Qts with Open Mahal 17. Jubilee Qts 18. Missionaries of Charity Convent 19. DMI Convent 20. Retreat House 21. Institute of Mariology 22. Shrine Public Lavatories 23. Canteen annex 24. Pilgrims rest shelter 25. Our Lady’s Tank Church Tower 26. Hall for distribution of holy water 27. Our Lady’s Tank Church 28. Our Lady’s Tank 29. Depot for religious & Plastic goods 30. Kamarajar road 31. IHM Convent 32. Our Lady of Health Hospital 33. St. Joseph’s Church 34. Hr. Sec. School for the Handicapped & High School for the Hearing-impaired 35. Jesus Convent 36. Karunai Illam 37. Boys Hostel 38. Our Lady of Health Hr. Sec. School 39. St. Joseph’s Qts 40. St. Sebastian’s Church 41. Tourist Bus Stand

42. State Express Bus Stand 43. Cemeteries 44. Main Road from the Arch Entrance 45. Town Bus Stand 46. Govt. Primary Health Centre 47. Panchayat Office 48. Market 49. Stations of the Cross 50. Stations of the Rosary 51. Holy Path 52. Shrine Dispensaries 53. St. Xavier’s Ground 54. Seven Sacraments 55. St. Xavier Qts 56. Railway Booking Office 57. Shrine Rooms Booking Office 58. Naduthittu Church 59. Our Lady of Health Primary School 60. Indian Overseas Bank 61. Police Station 62. Shrine Community Hall 63. Bon Secours Convent 63A. Girl’s Hostel 64. Shrine Road on the west 65. Shrine Open-Auditorium 66. Don Bosco Qts 67. Post Office 68. St. John’s Qts 69. Uthariamadha Tourist Hall 70. Uthariamadha Road 71. Uthariamadha Bachelor’s Qts 72. Way to the Sea 73. M.M.Qts 74. St. Thomas Qts 75. St. Thomas Annex & Tourist Hall 76. Road on the East of the Shrine 77. Shrine Canteen 78. Shrine Tonsure Hall 79. Road to the Sea 80. Cloak Room 81. Vennaru River 82. Bay of Benga

(Courtesy : http://www.jaysonjc.com/travel-reviews/velankanni-shrine-basilica-travel-report-%20trivandrum-to-velankanni-via-trichy.html)


Daily Holy Mass services 
Every Morning:
5:45 a.m. Holy Mass in Tamil 
6:45 a.m. High Mass in Tamil
9:00 a.m. Holy Mass in Malayalam
10:00 a.m. Holy Mass in English
12:00 a.m. Holy Mass in Tamil  
Hospital
There is a hospital inside the church complex. Medical store is available there  and also outside the church.  
Churches and Places to visit 
Ø  Naduthittu church – near the entrance to main basilica complex.
Ø  Main basilica church
Ø  Church on the upper floor of Main basilica church
Ø  Old church – behind the Main basilica church. Constructed as a single building.
Ø  Church of Adoration and Reconciliation – towards the left side of main basilica church.
Ø  Lady’s tank church – opposite side of main basilica church
Ø  Holy path – path to Lady’s tank church.
Ø  Seaside shopping – it’s the road to Velankanni beach. Infront of the old church. Around 500 mtrs. Lots of shops on both sides of this road.
Ø  Velankanni beach – front side of old church. Around 500 mtr from the church
Ø  Museum of offerings – offerings to Mother Mary are displayed here
Ø  Museum Book stall – you can buy prayer books, bible and lot other books
Ø  Shrine depot – church administration centre. Here you can buy gift articles.  


My Experience on visiting Velankanni


I went to Velankanni with my husband and 3 year old kid. We booked 3AC tickets in ERS Nagore express from Ernakulam North to Nagapattinam. The train started at 10:30 (bit late) . As we already had our dinner from home, we directly went to sleep. The train was fast and the night journey was a good one. Got a good sleep. Woke up at 7 am. We have brought breakfast – chapathi and tomato fry – from home. Bought coffee from Thanjavur railway station and had our breakfast. There was no pantry in the train. The scenes outside the train were interesting. I had visited Velankanni in 2000, at that time these places were a dry land with no trees and no traces of water. But its changed. Now I can see lots of paddy fields, coconut and banana tree cultivations and lots of water filled lakes. These lakes seems to be man made. May be for growing prawns or for extracting salt. I am not sure. Anyway the view is nice. The train was expected to reach Nagapattinam at 10:10 AM but it was 30 mins late. After getting down from the train we crossed the overbridge to reach the first platform where the passenger train to velankanni was waiting. We took tickets worth Rs.2/- per person and got into the train. It was neat  and not much passengers. We reached velankanni railway station by around 11:10 AM. It’s a newly built railway station with its front view constructed similar to a church.  From there its walkable distance to Hotels and lodges, but since we were having some heavy baggage, we get into one jeep infront of the railway station. We had to pay Rs.10 per person.

During this time its not difficult to get a hotel or a church quarters. We selected Hotel SeaGate for our stay. For AC 2 bedroom the rent is Rs.1300 + 12% tax. For Non-AC 2 bedroom the rent is Rs.800 + 10% tax. The rent was calculated on 24 hour basis. But they allowed us to stay upto 1 PM next day. We were accompanied by a room boy to our room.  The room was neat. We asked the room boy to get us a dust bin, a blanket and some hot drinking water. A TV was there but only one Malayalam channel – Asianet was available. Bathroom was narrow but neat. Hot water and ordinary water available inside the bathroom. A big mirror and a spacious cupboard etc was also available. The windows opened to a distant view of main basilica church.

We took bath and had some rest. After lunch we planned to visit the churches. But suddenly it rained though not heavy. But the rain ended up within some 10-15 minutes and so we walked to the church complex. The road was dirty due to the rain. There was not much pilgrims on the way. We reached the main entrance of the church complex which is to the right side of the road. Towards the left side it is the “Naduthittu” church. We planned to visit the main churches first.

The Basilica church is an architectural beauty. Main basilica church was closed at that time due to some cleaning works going inside. So we first went to the  Old main church which is behind the main basilica. We spent some time praying there. It’s a small church. Here we can see lots of people bring things like rosaries, car keys, pens, sprouted coconut plants and other such important personal things to get it touched and blessed by the statue of Mother Mary. Also we can see people kneeling through the middle of the church in prayer. We can not use cameras and videos in any of the church.

Then we went to the upper church which is above the main basilica. I like this church a lot since here only very few people were there and there is pin drop silence. Its somewhat a big church and here I spent around 1 hour in silent prayer. On the right side of Altar is a beautiful statue of Velankanni Matha. Here people offer sarees which are put on this statue and then given to poor ladies during their marriage.

Then we went to the church of Adoration and Reconciliation which is left to the basilica church. A beautiful pathway is built towards this church. It is a place for silent prayer and meditation. There is no altar here, instead a great depiction of Jesus carrying the cross is built there. Near to this church there is a centre for confession, counselling and are offered in different languages. There is toilet behind this area.  Near to this area is a huge depiction of Baptism of Jesus, a beautiful garden with statues of birds , elephant etc.

After visiting all these we went to the road between the basilica church and church of Adoration. Few quarters like Little Lourde Qts etc are on this way.  Also there is a museum of depicts and paintings. Its an awesome show. Hats off to the people behind this initiative. We reached infront of the seaside road. We had Tea from church canteen. Food is available for moderate price but we have to adjust on neatness.

Then we went through the seaside road. Both sides of this road are covered by shops. We get a good shopping experience. But the road is very dirty. If we walk looking at the shopping enchants, its sure we will land in cow’s dung!! Some shops sell things at very low prices. But you can see different prices in different shops for the same piece of things. The road leads to the Velankanni Beach. It was around 6:45 PM and its getting really dark. The beach was crowded with pilgrims and ice cream sellers. We spent sometime watching the greatness of the sea and went back. I think there is boating facility somewhere near the beach. We didn’t go there.

A famous offering at Velankanni is the shaving of head. We can see lots of pilgrims with clean shaved head. My husband also shaved his head from the church’s centre for this. Its at the start of seaside road (near church canteen) . Rs.10 was charged for this. My kid was shy to shave his head. So he didn’t do. Then we went back to our hotel room. We had our dinner from Hotel seagate’s restaurant. Its very costly and I didn’t like it much. The night was calm and quiet and got a nice sleep.

Second day morning – We had breakfast from Kerala restaurant infront of Hotel Picnic (near to hotel Seagate) . Moderate cost and tasty food. We hired one auto to church. Minimum charge is Rs.30. We attended the holy Mass at 9 AM in Malayalam from the Main basilica church. Then we went to see the museum and shrine depot which is infront of the old church. People’s offering to Mother Mary is displayed here. We can read through their experience in the letters displayed there. There is a separate section for Gold offerings. At the end of this is a small bookstall where variety of religious and self help books are available to buy. Next to this building is the Shrine depot. You can buy a lot of stuff including handicrafts and other religious materials. There is an information counter and a security office on the same building.

Then we went to see the Lady’s tank church. On the way to Our Lady’s Tank, Stations of the Cross and Mysteries of the Rosary were constructed. We stopped at each station and did a small prayer. The middle of the road is sand filled which is used as the Holy Path. Pilgrims kneel through this sand road towards the Lady’s tank church. It’s a painful experience I guess!

At the end of the holy path you will find Lady’s Tank Church. This is where Mother Mary first appeared to a milk. In front of the church you can see a covered tank which is believed to be created by Mother Mary. There is no altar inside this church. A beautiful depiction of Mother Mary’s apparition to the milk boy is there. Here also we spent a good amount of time in prayer. Outside of this church, there is a place to buy holy water. On the left of the church you will see “cloth cradles”  and “thaali charadu” hanging from tree branches. Couples tie these “cradles” as an offering to mother Mary asking the gift of a child in return.  The other one is for marriage.

Then we went back to our room and packed up things. At 1 PM, we checked out from the room. We had lunch from kerala restaurant. This time it was crowded there. Very few seats. Lunch was good. Then we went to visit Naduthittu church at the entrance of church complex. This is the place where Mother Mary appeared to a crippled boy and healed his legs. Here you can see a large depiction of this apparition. We were planning to spent our time there till we go to railway station. But the place was full of insect flies and so after sometime we went for small shopping. By around 3:30 PM we went to Velankanni railway station. From there we went to Nagapattinam railway station in a passenger train. we got into Ernakulam Express by 6PM. We bought our dinner from Trichy station. And had a good sleep in train. Next day morning at 5:30 we reached Ernakulam.

That’s it!! I had two days of peace and contentment. If you want to visit Velankanni, following links will be helpful.

 http://www.velankannichurch.com/pages/aboutvailankanni/aboutvailankanni.html 
http://www.tour.vailankannishrine.org/

Photos

Velankanni Railway station	Hotel Seagate

Main basilica church	Old main church

church of adoration	Our Lady's tank church

Seaside shops	Beach

Naduthittu church	Jordan garden

Hotel room	Seagate resorts

Kerala restaurant	Art Museum