Velankanni & Nagore

With a three day trip that covered Velankanni (a church), Nagore (a dargah) and Kanchipuram (a temple), I've rewritten my sentence which I'd started with 'as a non believer....' so I'm sneaking it in end of sentence...just to retain flavor.

Guess folks will call it perspective....but yes, each of those places was a conscious and planned visit. Diksha being in Mahabalipuram was the magnet that made it happen, as that was like base camp.

When I spoke of a bolt of inspiration that made this trip happen, it's quite literal. The thought just flashed into my mind..... that I should visit Velankanni....... and I listened. There's a talk of Deepak Chopra's in which he says "the universe is at all times in conversation with you..is your radar tuned well enough to catch what it's saying". Guess my radar was :). After that things just started to fall into place, and the trip happened. A trip that will remain one of my most intense and cherished in more ways than one.

                               

                               

Needless to say, the first look takes your breath away. It's architecturally beautiful. It looms over you with nothing to clutter the backdrop..almost surreal in it's magnificence. The pristine white, the arched windows, the delicate balustrades and the beautiful steeples made it feel like a carved vanilla cake that would just melt away in the blistering sun.

Considering we knew nothing about Velankanni, Diksha was reading on her phone as we drove there, and that created a nice receptacle in our minds.

Its origins can be traced back to the 16th century, and there are some interesting legends associated with the church, all of which are kept alive through either beautiful sculptures or glass paintings. There are three miracles said to have founded the church, two through an apparition of Mary and Jesus; one to a slumbering shepherd boy, the healing of a lame buttermilk vendor and then the survival of portuguese sailors from a ship wreck on it's coast. 

It is built in the Gothic style, was modified by Portuguese and then further expanded. The church building was raised to the status of basilica in 1962 by Pope John XXIII, and is now called 'Basilica of the Lady of Good Health' . It's also known as the 'Lourdes of the East'.

While the main church was impressive and pretty and all, it was the earlier church that's behind the main church......which we totally chanced upon (nothing happens by chance :) that was an intense experience for all of us, and made me glad we'd visited.

So if ever you do go, do not forget to visit the church behind. 

Then onto the Dargah. On the way back to Mahabalipuram, we visited the Nagore Dargha, which was a surprise add on, as I hadn't even heard of it until the day before I left for the trip ( I was telling Vijji aunty of the trip and she says, definitely go to Nagore...and go we did). Was an interesting visit, though diksha and I weren't allowed inside the sanctum sanctorium ( no women yet ). 

                        

The traditional ritual of the khadim patting your head with the Farrasha ( a broom like thing made of peacock feathers) was very intense and interesting. In fact when we came out and exchanged notes, we found we both had identical reactions. At first you start to giggle because it's like getting whacked on the head and repeatedly so, and it's just so novel I guess..... and then you sober out and gradually connect into the prayer as it intensifies and it then feels powerful.

And Nagore town itself was interesting, with many a quaint old house from times gone by. 

This was idli's on the way. Mani, our cab driver kept trying to take us to what he thought were decent enough places to eat, little knowing we had no such hang ups. We stopped at this shack, which had just idli and chutney and sambar, and we all loved it:

Travel sure expands horizons.........