The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health at Velankanni, 12 km south of Nagapattinam, is one of the largest Catholic pilgrimage centres in Asia. The shrine, set directly on the Bay of Bengal, draws an estimated three million pilgrims annually — the overwhelming majority of them Hindu — making it one of the clearest expressions of Tamil Nadu's tradition of cross-religious veneration. The Portuguese built the first permanent chapel here in the 16th century, and the basilica was elevated to minor basilica status by the Vatican in 1962.
The September festival, running for nine days around the feast of the Nativity of Mary, is extraordinary in scale. Special trains run from across south India, the beach fills with pilgrims camping for days, and the procession through the streets is one of the most colourful events on the Tamil Nadu calendar. Outside festival season the basilica is quiet but busy with daily pilgrims. The setting — white neo-Gothic towers against the sea — is striking.