Thread by @muthushiv

1. Vēḷāṅkaṇṇi is a Christian pilgrimage site—that is what most of us have been led to believe. We may however be surprised to learn about its Śaiva origins. Read more. #MissionaryMafia -2 ‘Kaṇṇi’ in Tamil means ‘she who has beautiful eyes’. @jayasartn @Bharathgyan

2. ‘Vēḷāṅkaṇṇi’ is etymologically derived from the old name ‘Vēlana-kaṇṇi’—a name by which Ambikā is known in the Dēvāram, owing to her eyes appearing like a spear-head (vēl = spear) eyes, she is also known as vēlaṉa-kaṇṇi.

3. About 10KM south of Veḷāṅkaṇṇi basilica, there is a town called ‘Karuṅkaṇṇi’ ( black-eyed”). Tamil poem praises Parvati as Velinertaru Kanni, Iru-malar-kaṇṇi , aṅgayaṟkaṇṇi (Meenakshi), maiyar-kanni, Kāvyaṅkaṇṇi, Nīḷneḍuṅkaṇṇi, Vēlneḍuṅkaṇṇi, .etc.

4. All these names are influenced by Dēvāram, a Shaivite work. Duty of the king was to inscribe at least one or two poems on the marble boards in every Temple to demonstrate that the patika of the had an inseparable association. Vēḷāṅkaṇṇi is one such.

5. When Portuguese, Danish, & French invaded these shore sites, they destroyed several Hindu temple and built Christian churches there. The demolition of the Kapālīśwara temple, Chennai & Vedapurīśwara temple at Pondicherry are good examples of the level of Christian tolerance.

6. Wearing saffron robes, churches that resemble temple architecture, placing dhvaja sthamba in front of churches, deliberately using Sanskrit words like Vedāgamam, Suviseṣam, Agni, Abhiṣekam, flag hoisting, ratha yātras &other rituals are being appropriated to lure Hindus

7. Today Vēḷāṅkaṇṇi has been promoted and established as an extremely popular Christian pilgrimage site. But the questions that probe how it came to be a Christian site remain. Random stories are floating around such as how Velankanni Mary saved Vasco da Gama.

8. On one of these voyages up the Coromandel Coast the Portuguese were blown ashore in a storm, at a fishing village 12 km south of Nagapattinam. They declared that the Virgin Mary had saved them and in thanksgiving took over the local Velankanni Temple

9. But the fact is, Archeologists have found large number of pañcaloha idols buried here. In the Vēḷāṅkaṇṇi town, there is another śivālaya called Rajatagirīśvara. Whether this is an ancient temple or a recently rebuilt one is yet to be established.

10. Also, the original Devi temple was enclosed within the first Portuguese church, known as the Mada Koil (real VelanKanni), & Devi was on public display until some years ago, but has since replaced with Virgin Mary.

11. Now few questions for #Missionarymafia. It has been accepted by Christians that there is no basis 4 Mother Mary that are claimed to have occurred in Vēḷāṅkaṇṇi. If so, how did this church become ‘Lourdes of the East’? Why is Mary, not worshipped in other places 4 Health

12. Why did this site where many miracles are said to have occurred not gain the status of basilica until 1962? The miracles are claimed to be hundreds of years old, yet why did it not gain basilica status during British rule?

13. Even native Christian scholars like Henry Albert Krishna Piḷḷai, who wrote Rakṣaṇya Yātrikam, Māyūram Samuel Vedanāyakam Piḷḷai, etc., who lived just a century ago do not appear to have mentioned about Vēḷāṅkaṇṇi, nor British generals

14. Although large numbers of Christians congregate and worship at the Vēḷāṅkaṇṇi Church, no pope has visited here. Why?
Without the approval of the Holy See, how did this become a basilica? Does Biblical authority support
ostentatious rituals in worshipping Mary?

15. What archaeological studies have been conducted at this site? What happened to the panchaloga idols that have been unearthed here? Any dating conducted? Tamils, wakeup asap to this scam and recover our rights! Read more here..bharatabharati.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/whe…

Lets all pray for the truth from the real Velankanni! Bless! All the content of this thread belongs to the author of that blog post.

Read more on #MissionaryMafia twitter.com/i/moments/9482…