Chinamalai St. Thomas Cave: National Shrine

Hills in Chennai - 1 - Chinna Malai

Hills in Chennai !!!! ? 

If you think that I am out of my mind to talk about an hill in the City of Chennai, Sorry, I can show you many hills in Chennai.

This is the first part in the series - Hills in Chennai

Chinna Malai or Little Mount :

This hill is right in the heart of Chennai. Dont think I am joking. This hill is right on the Mount Road or Anna Salai , the arterial road of chennai. The bus stop next to saidapet on Mount Road is known as Chinna Malai or Little Mount and this is where you find this hill. You wont be able to see the hill from the road , but the entrance is there right on the road.



If you ask me where is the hill in the above photo, I would have to say that the church is constructed right on top of the hill. Oh, Do you call that a hill ? Thats why it is called as Little Mount or Chinna Malai. :-)

Before you are back from the shock that a hill is right on Mount Road, give me another chance to give you a bigger shock. Yes I can show you a Cave in chennai.
Whenever anybody says Caves and Chennai , it will be Mahabalipuram , but there is a cave right in the heart of chennai. It is there for you to see in this Chinnamalai.

The church on top of Chinna Malai



Inside view of the church



Entrance to the Cave :

This is the entrance to the Cave where St.Thomas was hiding.



Inside the cave :

This is the inside view of the cave.



Places to be seen in Chinna Malai:



Story of Chinna Malai:







The next hill in the series would be Parangi Malai or St.Thomas Mount.

Cheers
Megarajan

Chinnamalai

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Little Mount (Chinnamalai) is a small hillock that lies on the bank of river Adayar in the Saidapet taluk of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is traditionally acknowledged to be one of the places where St Thomas, an apostle of Jesus, lived and preached when he came to India. In 1551 AD, Portuguese built a Church over the site where St Thomas is believed to have lived in. Later, in the year 1970, a part of this old Church was demolished and a larger circular Church was built to accommodate more devotees.

Little Mount now is a bustling area with a mix of residential and commercial activities. IX Metropolitan Magistrates (Saidapet) court, Saidapet MTC bus depot, and All India Radio are located in Little Mount. Other Governmental offices such as Raj Bhavan (Governor's house), Highways Department, Panangal Maligai are located at the borders of Little Mount.

St. Thomas[edit]

St. Thomas is believed to have stayed in a tiny cave in Little Mount. He led a spartan prayerful life in solitude, often praying on the top of the hill and preaching to the local crowds that gathered to hear the Good news. The cave is well preserved even today and can be accessed from the old Church (chinna kovil) and is used for prayer and meditation by the devotees from all creeds. On the other side of the case is an opening through which St. Thomas is said to have fled to escape this assailants. At the front of this opening, you can find hand and foot imprints of St. Thomas etched on the rock. A little farther away from the cave is an eternal spring from which is believed to be a work of St. Thomas. When St. Thomas was thirsty, he split the rocks and drank the refreshing water that gushed forth from the spring.

Our Lady of Health Church[edit]

Portuguese realized the importance of this sacred place and in 1551 AD, built a Church in honor of Our Lady of Health. A part of this Church still exists despite several renovations and development activities around it. You can access the cave, in which St. Thomas lived, from a small entrance at the left side of the altar of this Church.

Developments Around the Church[edit]

Recent developments in and around the Church include developing a large tract of land behind the Church as Holy Land. All stations of cross and a few stations of rosary are built in concrete on this land. The altar at the Holy Land is said to be finished in Italy and blessed by the Pope before it was installed here.

New buildings in the Church campus include an adoration chapel, next to the old Church, a new parish office, at the other side of the circular Church, and a pulpit and altar to hold festival celebrations.

Church Festival[edit]

The annual feast of Our Lady of Health is held on the fifth Saturday after Easter. It is preceded by flag hoisting nine days earlier and Novena. On each day, mass and prayers are offered for special intentions of a specific category of people. On the feast day, the high mass is followed by a car procession around the Church. Next evening, the flag is lowered after a high mass.

Status of the Church[edit]

Recently the Church was elevated to the status of a Shrine. Now it is referred as "Shrine of Our Lady of Health." Masses are offered regularly (at 6:15 AM, 11:30 AM, and 6:00 PM during weekdays and (6:30AM, 8:00 AM, 11:30 AM, and 5:00 PM during Sundays). During special occasions such as Christmas, masses are offered in three languages (Tamil, English, and Malayalam).

Other Organizations of Church[edit]

Our Lady of Health School[edit]

This school was started with the purpose of providing education in English medium for the poor residents of the Little Mount parish. This school has only primary section and after fifth class students usually move on to other schools for continuing their education.

Immaculate Conception Convent[edit|edit source]

The Immaculate Conception (IC) convent is located behind the Church and near the entrance to Holy Land.

Missionaries of Charity (Brothers) - Karunai Illam[edit]

Karunai Illam provides a home for the destitute people who are differently disabled, both mentally and physically. It is run by brothers ofMissionaries of Charity. Missionaries of Charity, Brothers was founded in 1963 by Mother Theresa to do work similar to the Sisters of Missionaries of Charity.^[1]