Our Lady Of Dolours Basilica, Thrissur, Kerala, India

It was Sakthan Thampuran, the then Maharaja of Cochin, who conceived the idea of a modern town in Thrissur. Those days, Thrissur was inhabited by a small number of Hindu families. In his endeavour to make Thrissur an Urban centre with commercial activities he brought in and rehabilitated 52 Syrian Christian Families from the neighbouring areas of Aranattukara, Ollur and Kottekkad. The number 52 denoting the year St. Thomas, the apostle of Jesus Christ arrived in Kodungallur. That was in the year 1794.

However, there was no church for these people who settled in Thrissur and had to depend on the parent churches for their religious needs. On seeing this difficulty, the Maharajah promptly gave permission to build a Church in the town. Our Lady of Dolour’s Church was blessed in the year 1814 under the erstwhile Cranganore (Kodungallur) Arch Diocese. In 1887, the Vicariates of Trichur and Kottayam came into existence. 

Due to some disputes, the Catholics lost possession of this church they constructed in 1814.

This very church was built in 1814, when the Archbishop of Kodungallur approved for a church to be built for the catholics in the city. It was then approved and constructed and subsequently, the Our lady of Dolorous Church was managed by the Kodungallur Archdiocese from 1814 to 1838.

In 1838, however, Pope Gregory XVI is said to have issued a multi praeclara, which caused for the Kodungallur diocese to stop its functioning. It, thereby, passed on the controls of the church to the Bishop of Verapoly who controlled it until 1861.

Subsequently, more trouble was invited in the form of two Persian Catholic bishops namely Rocos and Melus who are said to have created a divide between the Catholics in the city and, thus, were forced to flee from India. Then Pope Leo XIII is said to have appointed Adolph Medleykot as the first Bishop of Thrissur and divided the Syrian Catholics from Verapoly.

Subsequently, the Catholics had to give up their church and Bishop Vazhapilly Mar Francis decided to have a new one constructed.

He visited several churches from infamous catholic oriented cities such as Rome and other such European cities and upon his return, designed the Church of Our Lady of Dolorus.

 To compensate for that loss, the Catholics decided to build another church. On 10th Oct 1914, a temporary altar was blessed in the present Church premises. The foundation for the new church was laid in 1929. The construction took eleven years and the new church was consecrated by the then Bishop of Thrissur, Mar Francis Vazhappilly. The responsibility of constructing the church was passed on to a great architect of Jnanaprakasam and it took 11 years for the church to be constructed. The church was finally consecrated on 24th of November in 1940 by Bishop Mar Francis Vazhapilly and came under the jurisdiction of the Lourdes Cathedral Church.It was named ‘ Church of Lady of Dolour’s and was also called ‘Puthen Palli’ or the new church. 

Pope John Paul visited this church in 1986 which is regarded as a great historic feat. In 1992, cardinal Anthony Padiyara converted the church into a Basilica making it the Basilica of Our Lady of Dolorus. In 1992 it was elevated to the status of a Minor Basilica following a decree issued by Pope John Paul II. 

The church is a must visit for everybody who is on a trip to Thrissur as not only will it fill you up with great religious spirits but the magnificent and colourful interiors will brighten up your day. Every year on the last Sunday of November, a great feast is organised at the church which draws in a very strong crowd, thereby, making it the second largest festival in Thrissur.

St. Thomas, one of the twelve chosen Disciples of Christ and the Apostle of India who sowed the seeds of Christianity in India, set foot at Cranganore (Kodungallur) in 52 AD.

At that time Cranganore (Kodungallur) was a busy center of commerce and an important port. He traveled about various parts of Kerala by water and land, preaching the Gospel and forming Christian communities which began to grow and several of them sprang up in the vicinities of Thrissur Town too. The heart of the town, known for its spiritual and cultural heritage, was a dense forest in those days. It is now called Basilica of Our Lady of Dolours and is one of the 23 basilicas of the Catholic Church In India.

The first Catholic Church, in the name, Our Lady of Dolours, was founded in the year 1814. The ‘New Church’, now popularly known as ‘Puthenpally’, was blessed on 10th October 1925 by Bishop Mar Francis Vazhappilly.