GUNADALAMATHA SHRINE: The Beginnings
In 1923 Msgr. Pezzoni, a PIME Italian Missionary obtained 25 acres of barren land from the government at the foot of the hill at Gunadala and opened an orphanage and school for boys. Msgr. Pezzoni shifted to Gunadala on 15th June, 1923 with 30 orphans of the mission school at Bezwada.
Fr. Arlati the first manager of the Institutions, engaged workers to clear the jungle: it took a few months to complete the work. The official date of opening of the orphanage was 15th June 1924. The Industrial Training Institute was also started the same year.
THE SHRINE: Origin and Development
In 1925 Fr. Arlati PIME, who was then the Rector of St. Joseph’s Orphanage, cut a pathway on the hill and placed a small statue of Our Lady in a niche. This was the beginning of the local devotion to Our Lady. Soon a zigzag pathway to the grotto was cut out and the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes became an annual feast for the inmates of the neighbouring institutions and the local Catholics.
In 1933 to commemorate the silver Jubilee feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary an 18 feet high iron cross was erected the summit of the hill. The grotto half way up and the cross on the top beautifully symbolized the truth: “Ad Iesum per Mariam” (To Jesus through Mary).
By 1937 it had become a Diocesan feast and Fr. Arlati placed a new statue on the hill and shifted the annual celebration to September 8th. An altar in front of niche was also built so that Mass could be celebrated on the hill on different occasions.
The pathway was widened and cemented. It was found necessary to deepen the grotto and then level the ground in front of the grotto. This was a herculean task but well accomplished with patience and hard work by Msgr. A. Bianchi, the Vicar General, Rev Br. Bertoli and Rev. Br. Crippa.
In 1947 after Msgr. Bianchi left for Italy, Br. Bertoli continued the work. Due to the rains in the month of September, the feast was shifted back to February 11.
Pictures of the 15 Mysteries of the Rosary, in kaolin paint ware, were set up along the pathway leading to the grotto. In 1951 a beautiful masonry arch and a staircase leading up to the statue was built to facilitate the installing of a new statue of Our Lay presented by Msgr. Ambrose De Battista, the then Vicar General of the PIME, who later became the Bishop of this Diocese. The beautiful statue of white cement, brought from Italy, was weighing 300 kgs.
When His Lordship Bishop Joseph Thumma, the third Bishop of Vijayawada, took charge of the diocese, he extended the feast to 3 days. The Parish Church was built and blessed in 1971. It was extended in the recent years. Sheds for the pilgrims to rest, electricity and water supply on the top of the hill, a stage in the compound below for the celebration of Mass and for cultural items were also provided. A series of 14 Stations called “The Way of the Cross” were installed from the grotto to the cross. Several rest houses for pilgrims were also built.
Bishop Marampudi Joji, the then Bishop who was very much interested in the development of the shrine as a priest in Vijayawada, had great plans for the development of the shrine. He had initiated a study for the process of raising the shrine to the status of a Basilica. He has added a significant feather to the shrine by transferring the mortal remains of the first Bishop of Vijayawada from Italy to Gunadala and renovating beautifully the cemetery. While he revived the “Gunadala Matha”monthly magazine, he also proposed to have a museum at the shrine that will exhibit different articles of antique and depict the development of the shrine in different stages. He also inaugurated an information centre to spread information about the shrine to pilgrims and make available Christian literature. Bishop Joji was also having plans to restructure the whole setting of the shrine so as to make it more popular in the region.
THE SHRINE: Popular Rituals
The Festival has also acquired certain native ritual practices. Most notable among them is the tonsuring of the heads by pilgrims, a preponderant practice in the temples of Andhra Pradesh. Theologians see offering of hair as a great sacrifice of beauty. Over 50,000 pilgrims of various faiths offer hair during the three-day festival. Offering of silver images of afflicted organs of one’s body, a native practice, is also practiced in Gunadala. Coconuts, incense sticks and flowers are offered to the Holy Mother.
Our Lady of Lourdes has been declared as the Mother of the sick and Mother of Good health. This is mainly due to the numerous miraculous healings that took place at Lourdes in France. True to the name, Gunadala Lourdu Matha has become synonymous for the healing graces. She showers her blessings on the devotees as is evident in other Marian Shrines such as of Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Lourdes and our Lady of Vailankanni.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Thousands of people visit Gunadala Matha throughout the year as they firmly believe in the merciful heart of the Blessed Mother and are convinced of her Motherly blessings. Devotees, not only from all corners of Andhra Pradesh, but from the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka visit the shrine during the festival in February, every year.
The present Bishop, Most Rev. Prakash Mallavarapu, has shown keen interest in making the shrine more pilgrim-friendly. The lakhs of devotees thronging the shrine especially during the annual feast can now avail the comfort of a direct access to the shrine via a cement road. The journey up-hill has become easier and safer even to the aged pilgrims as iron-railings have been fixed all along the pavements leading up to the grotto. Two huge water tanks to cater to the needs of the pilgrims have been constructed on the hill, one near the Cross and the other near the Grotto. A new pavement as an alternative pathway has been carved on the hill to ease the congestion due to heavy rush of the pilgrims, especially during the feast days.
The response from the pilgrims has been good and heartening. The local media too has hailed the developmental efforts of the Bishop and the present Rector in collaboration with the shrine committee. With the support of the Local Ordinary the present Rector, Rev. Fr. M. Balaswamy, is sparing no efforts to beautify the shrine and make it a place of true spiritual experience living up to the truth, “To Jesus through Mary.”
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