This Saturday, when the golden car of the 16th Century Basilica of Our Lady of Snows rolls out in Thoothukudi, with the participation of thousands of devotees of multiple faiths at the annual festival, a contingent of carpenters and artisans will silently heave a sigh of relief. For, they were toiling over the past seven months to get the car ready in time to roll for the 16th time in the history of the basilica.
Originally blessed as ‘Mother of Mercy Church’ on August 5, 1582, on a small street by the then Bishop of Kochi, the church was shifted to its current location by Jesuit priest Rev. Fr. Vigilius Mancy in 1713. Its first golden car festival was conducted more than nine decades later in 1806. Since then, the Basilica has witnessed 15 such celebrations. Now, the golden car carrying the statue of Our Lady of Snows is to be drawn along the streets of Thoothukudi on August 5.
When the first car of Our Lady of Snows was crafted in the beginning of 1800s by the master carpenters from Sri Lanka and Kerala, it cost about ₹1 lakh, an amount estimated to be the equivalent to the value of 7,500 sovereigns of gold then. After 1806, the golden car was drawn only in 1872, 1879, 1895, 1905, 1908, 1926, 1947, 1955, 1964, 1977, 1982, 2000, 2007 and 2013.
