Our Lady of Madhu unites Lanka’s diverse communities

This year’s annual feast drew 500,000 pilgrims from across the country in the heart of one-time conflict zone

- By RUBATHEESAN SANDRAN

(UCAN) Resting under a shady tree, Dinesh Thirchelvan wonders how he gathered the courage to walk for four days to Maatha’s (Mother in Tamil) shrine, as Sri Lankans refer to the Our Lady of Madhu in the remote jungle of Mannar district.

“I decided on the pilgrimage following a vow I made to Maatha, and finally, I made it here,” he told UCA News, hours after reaching the shrine on Aug.14.

Thirchelvan left his hometown of Maruthankerni, Kilinochchi, on Aug. 10, accompanied by his wife, Vasuki. She wasn’t planning to join him initially.

But after a sudden thought, she changed her mind and decided to join him on the pilgrimage to the holiest Catholic shrine on the island nation.

Vasuki recalled a fellow villager saying that “not everyone can reach Maatha even if they wish — they need an invitation from her.”

“Something in my intuition told me to join this pilgrimage, so I did,” she told UCA News.

This is the first time the middle-aged couple, parents of three children, had set out on the 160-kilometer-long pilgrimage on foot, cutting across the dense Northern forest region.

Four days later, and a day before the annual feast on Aug. 15, which is the culmination of a weeklong annual feast, they reached the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church along with thousands of other pilgrims from various parts of the island nation.

Many refer to her as the “Atputha Maatha” (Magical Mother), because she fulfils their wishes and removes hardships, if they are fortunate enough to receive her blessings.

For Thirchelvan, the simple act of walking with fellow pilgrims proved to be a “truly new spiritual experience.”