Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu Church Mannar

The holy place of Our Lady of Madhu is a Roman Catholic Marian shrine in Mannar district of Sri Lanka. With a record of over 400 years, this shrine acts as a middle for pilgrimage and worship for SriLankan Catholics. The place is considered as the holiest Catholic church in the island and is a famous place of devotion for both Tamil and Sinhalese Catholics. A former Pattini-Kannaki shrine, the church has been a sign of unity not just between Tamils and Sinhalese, but also along with people of different religions. Including Buddhists, Hindus and Protestants. Attendance for the August festival at period touched close to a million people before the outbreak of the Sri Lankan Civil War. It was shelled a number of times. The Dutch invasion and the persecution of the Catholic Church in 1670, led to 20 Catholic families from Mantai, along with the statue of Mary in that church to a safer Madhu. About the similar time another 700 Catholics migrated from Jaffna into Wanni forests. At what time these two communities met in Madhu they installed a new shrine with the statue.

In the year 1870 the new Bishop approved an annual festival to be celebrated on 2 July. But in latest years the August 15th celebration draws the largest crowds because it is one of the most hallowed days for Catholics celebrating the day of assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into paradise and also because the school holidays facilitate whole families to make the tour.