St. Mary’s Basilica, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Saint Mary’s Basilica, Bangalore is the oldest church in Bangalore built in 1882 and is the only church in the state that has been elevated to the status of a minor basilica. It is famous for the festivities it holds during the St. Mary’s Feast, in September each year, an event which attracts a large number of devotees from in and around Bangalore. It is a marvellous sight to behold with its towering façade, glass windows and the loving statues of Mother Mary. It is a generous throwback to the colonial era of Indian history and restores the traditional faith of Christianity till date with elaborate feasts, masses done in different languages and the annual celebration of Mother Mary’s nativity day.

Saint Mary’s Basilica, Bangalore is a spacious gothic-style Church built in the form of a cross, designed by a French architect. It is 172 feet long and 50 feet broad. The imposing and magnificent tower forming the facade of the Church is 160 feet in height. A beautiful statue of Mother Mary holding Child Jesus in her arms, 6 feet in height, is set up in an attractive shrine just outside the Church building. Every day, Our Mother Mary is draped in a saree, which is the typical dress of an Indian lady.

It is said that when the new Church was built, people tried to remove this statue to install it on a prominent altar inside the Church, but they failed in their effort since the statue remained immovable. This strange happening is considered to date a sign of Our Lady’s miraculous power. The Main Feast of the Church is celebrated with all grandeur on the 8th of September, the Feast day of the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary, every year. This feast is considered one of utmost importance by the people, in the whole of the Archdiocese and the state of Karnataka.

St. Mary’s Church to the title of “ANNAI AROKIAMMARIE BASILICA’ on 26th September 1973, which was officially announced and celebrated on 26th January 1974. Since then, every year this day stands as a remarkable significance of God’s grace. For several years a grand car procession carrying the Eucharist was organized and the archbishops administered solemn blessed of the Blessing Sacrament.

Due to increase in the population, and more devotees flooding to visit the shrine of Our Lady, the space that was available for the devotees to stand and pray was found to be very congested. At this juncture, the then Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. T. Jabamalai, successor of Rev. Fr. Paul Kinatukara, constructed a hall like structure facing east and placed the statue of Our Lady in a prominent place. This enabled thousands of devotees to see her without any hindrance and pray to her more devotedly. 

During the year 2004 – 2007, the church was completely renovated by him and was rededicated on 29th August 2006 by the Archbishop of Bangalore, and that year (1882-2007) it celebrated 125th year of its consecration. During the month of June 2007, the Church and Shrine was bifurcated His Grace the Archbishop of Bangalore appointed Rev. Fr. A.S. Anthony Swamy as the Parish Priest and Rev. Fr. L. Arulappa as the Rector of the Shrine. On 8th of September 2007, Annual feast day and birthday of Blessed Virgin Mary, His Grace the Archbishop officially declared this Basilica as the Diocesan Shrine.