Pilgrimage Sites in India
Discover 10 sacred destinations in India
Arthunkal
St. Andrew's Basilica is the world's largest shrine to St. Sebastian, and its January feast draws millions to a procession along the shore.
Chennai
Santhome Cathedral Basilica stands over the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle, martyred at Mylapore in AD 72.
Harihar
Minor Basilica on the Tungabhadra River where an 18th-century statue of Mary was found, drawing 300,000 pilgrims each September.
Kolkata
Home of Saint Teresa of Calcutta's tomb at the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity, where pilgrims pray beside the saint who heard Christ's call to serve the poorest of the poor.
Malayattoor
An international shrine on the hill of Kurisumudi, where St. Thomas the Apostle is said to have prayed and left his footprints in the rock.
Mumbai
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount stands above Bandra, where the September fair draws crowds to a sixteenth-century statue of the Virgin.
Old Goa
UNESCO World Heritage churches shelter St. Francis Xavier's incorrupt body, drawing millions annually to the 'Rome of the Orient.'
Sardhana
Minor Basilica built by Begum Samru, India's only Catholic ruler, drawing 300,000 pilgrims to Uttar Pradesh each November.
Vallarpadam
The National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Ransom, on an island in Kochi's backwaters, keeps a portrait venerated since the sixteenth century.
Velankanni
South Asia's most visited Catholic shrine, where 20 million pilgrims honor the Virgin Mary at the Gothic basilica Pope John XXIII named the "Lourdes of the East."