Velankanni is a Special Grade Panchayat Town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, 350 km south of Chennai (Madras) and 12 km south of Nagapattinam.

Once a port that traded with Rome and Greece,the tiny commercial center gradually lost its importance to the larger city of Nagapattinam. The canal built to link this town with Vedaranyam still lies to the west. The Vellayar, a minor branch of the Cauvery River, runs south of the town and discharges into the sea. The town was among the worst hit by the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

• The town is home to one of the most visited Roman Catholic Latin Rite shrines called the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health.
• Velankanni has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY – Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India.
• Vailankanni is located 350 kilometres (220 mi) south of Chennai and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) south of Nagapattinam on the Coramandel coast, at 10.40°N 79.49°E in Nagapattinam district of Tamil nadu state.

Once a port that traded with Rome and Greece,the tiny commercial center gradually lost its importance to the larger city of Nagapattinam. The canal built to link this town with Vedaranyam still lies to the west.

Velankanni Church



• The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health is located at the small town of Velankanni in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India.
• The Roman Catholic Latin Rite Basilica is devoted to Our Lady of Good Health.
• These accounts are based on oral tradition and there are no written or attested records in support of them. The Holy See has not approved these apparitions.
• The chapel was finally built by Portuguese sailors.
• More than 500 years later, the nine-day festival and celebration is still observed and draws nearly 2 million pilgrims each year. The Shrine of Our Lady of Vailankanni, also known as the “Lourdes of the East,” is one of the most-frequented religious sites in India.