Recently I had an opportunity to visit Lourdes Matha Church (Our Lady of Lourdes) at Nagamangalam in Tamil Nadu. Nagamangalam is a Village in Kelamangalam Taluk in Krishnagiri District of Tamil Nadu State. One of my friends wanted to visit there and asked me whether I can accompany her. I took it as a God given opportunity and agreed to accompany her. I immediately googled to collect more details about the place, but initially I didn't find much information. I hope this blog may be of help to those who wish to travel there.
The Church is located in the beautiful J.G. Farm at St.Mary's Nagar. From the gate of the Farm it takes 1.5 kms to reach there.
Canteen
We reached there at about 8.30 a.m. on a Saturday, without knowing the working time. After spending some time there we were about to return and by then people started coming in. So please check the timing of the Church before your visit at http://www.lourdesmatha.com/.
The history of the church - copied from the official website.
"On 19th May, 2008, Rev. Fr. Joy Oonnukallell OSB, Rev. Henri Bonal M.E.P., Rector of St. Mary's Church, Rayakottai and Mr. Periyanayakam, a traditional Christian devotee from Kelamangalam, gathered together in the J. G. Farm to discuss about the Chapel which they had constructed in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes. They were discussing where to fix the Holy Cross and the statues of Our Lady of Lourdes and and St. Alphonso. Around 8 a.m., while they were discussing about the place, Mr. Prabhakaran, a worker in this farm, dug the soil in the farm. Suddenly there was clear and pure water gushing out of the hole that he dug. This pit was only one and half deep. Mr. Prabhakaran had no intention of digging a water pond. Astonishingly, a 660 feet deep borewell dug nearby earlier had failed to yield any water. This pond is the same big pond that we see at the shrine today.
Seeing this water, Rev. Fr. Joy felt an extra-ordinary shock. He felt and told Mr. Prabhakar that the water was something special. Father gave this water to a 25 years old young worker on this farm, who was suffering from diabetes for a long time. The worker used to take 2 doses of insulin injections per day. He drank this water for one and a half month and his sugar became normal and he was completely cured from his disease. Now he is not taking insulin or any other medicines. This was the first miracle done by God with this water.
After this incident a lot of miracles happened with this miraculous water in and around the village and other places. Miraculous cures were witnessed patients suffering from diabetes, blood presure, cholosteral, skin diseases, ulcers, cancer, heart problems, chikungunya, joint pains, arthritis, T.B., family problems, etc., by drinking this water."
For more information, such as timing, phone numbers, address, video of the church etc. please visit the official website http://www.lourdesmatha.com/
To know more about the route etc. check this blog - http://darylgandhi.blogspot.in/2010/01/miraculous-water-from-our-lady-of.html
Google map - http://www.onefivenine.com/map.dont?method=loadVillagePhotos
