OUR LADY OF GOOD HEALTH - ANNAI VELANKANNI CHURCH - NAGAPATTINAM

My Velankanni Church Trip Blog

http://www.vailankannishrine.net/

This has always been my favorite destination when I was young and even now at age 52 when I started creating this blog. I really wanted to create this blog as a memory not only for me and the memories I had with my parents, but I remember the good times that I had with my parents before things started falling apart. We were so happy when I was young and we traveled to all these places. 

The peace that you get when you go to this place is such a wonderful feeling. Those days to go to Velankanni from Vellore we had only two options 1. Train and 2. Bus

1. Train - A long Journey from Vellore Cantonment - Villupuram Jn -  Nagapattinam

From Nagapattinam we have to take a bus to go to Velankanni. 

I remember this very well when I was young. Once we reach Nagapattinam we used to see a huge Mother Mary's Photo.

By Bus to Velankanni from Vellore used to be by Thiruvalluvar Transport Corporation famously known as TTC (A division of Tamilnadu Govt Transport Corporation). TTC buses used to be for outside travel within the state and also outside state like going to Andhra and Karnataka. 

This route is 5 hours 47 minutes. But those days it was more than that. It used to take around 7 hours. Since, roads were single lane those days and now the roads are better and wider. 

To travel in these buses we need to have advance bookings, otherwise we will not get tickets. Most of the time for us the travel will be overnight and so it will start around 9 pm which will arrive from Chennai and then go to Nagapattinam. So, my dad used to book the tickets for my mother, him and myself. We used to travel to Nagapattinam overnight and it will reach at 5 am. Once, we reach there, we used to have our breakfast at a hotel near the bus stop. Then go ahead and take a bus and travel to Velankanni. This is another 30 to 40 minutes trip from Nagapattinam bus stop to Velankanni. These are local buses that ply every 30 minutes to Velankanni Church.

Once we reach here, those days we had to go to the Shrine's office and book rooms for our stay. The church used to have accommodations which were cheap. There never used to be hotels in the 70s or 80s near the church. Only church had constructed accommodations for pilgrims and visitors.  There used to be long queues. The Shrine used to have booking offices and we used to go and book our rooms and we have to wait. There were no online bookings or anything like that those days, so we will have to stand in queue and sometimes we might have to wait until noon and we will register our names and go and then come back and pick up the keys.

Then we used to go to the room and sleep there and we also had place where people can cook So, we used to go and get mud pots and cooking vessels to cook. There used to be a common area where people can cook and we used to cook there and take it to the room and eat it. There was not many hotels (restaurants) those days. There was only one hotel near the bus stand and that used to be packed. Then slowly several restaurants started coming up and lodges. Now, it has several hotels and restaurants. I remember my mom used to go and get fresh fish from the market near the beach and make wonderful fish curry and fry. Yummy, those are the days that I can never forget and how I feel that my children should have enjoyed!

I also loved the beach walk with all the shops in the sides till we reach the sea. I enjoyed those days when we used to travel every year or once in 3 years to visit the church. The memories with my dad and my mom. Those were such wonderful days. I miss all those days with my mother and father. I have been with my aunt, uncle and my cousins also. But, it was really a blessing that those days when we did not have anything much we used to enjoy and travel and do things so much. But, now with lots of money and being away from home for the last 26 years, it is tough to go and do things what we used to do when I was young. 

I definitely would be visiting again in 2020 hopefully as I want to stay for 3 days at least and spend time and get the blessings of mother Mary. My parents were married here at this church. It is such a wonderful feeling to go here. Also, there is a building were people pray and come and submit their (Kanikkai) gifts to the church like gold or silver items made as per their prayers. People who might not have a child might pray and if they have a child they will visit the church and giver their gifts in this building which will be displayed with their names. 

I remember my dad also gifted his gold ring (Felix) written on top of it  to the church when he got an opportunity to go to the middle east.  Those were good days and now I feel and I regret moving out of my country and my hometown where I do not have the opportunity to visit all these places.