On September 12th 2004 the Catholic Bishops Conference of India raised this pilgrim center to the status of a "National Shrine". The following December Pope John Paul II granted the honorific title of Minor Basilica to the church. Documents related to the raising of the status of the Our Lady of Ransom Church on the island were delivered to the Archbishop of Varappuzha Daniel Acharuparampil by the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, CardinalTelesphore Toppo.
Vallarpadam is situated next to Bolgatty Island on the west, and linked to the Ernakulam mainland via the new Goshree bridges.[1] It is about 3.5 kilometers (2.2 mi) in length in the north-south direction and hosts a population of 10,000 people. Vallarpadam is about one kilometer (½ mile) away from the Ernakulam mainland.
The picture of the Virgin Mary and Infant Jesus, installed at the top of the main altar of the Vallarpadam Church, was brought by Portuguese merchants under the leadership of Vasco da Gama in 1524. In 1676 the old church, which was known as the Church of the Holy Spirit, founded by the Portuguese missionaries, was destroyed by a heavy flood, and the picture was found floating in the backwaters. Nobody except Paliyath Raman Valiyachan, the prime minister of Maharaja of Cochin, could recover it. The present church at Vallarpadamis is built on land donated by Paliyath Raman Valiyachan. A sanctuary lamp which he donated has been burning day and night from 1676 onwards in his honour.[1]
In May 1752 a miracle is believed to have taken place which made Vallarpadam a centre of pilgrimage. In Vallarpadam there was a young Nair lady named Meenakshi Amma, who was a member of a noble family called Palliyil Veedu. Together with her son she was sailing to Mattancherry. There arose a storm and the boat capsized. Meenakshi Amma and her son went deep down into the backwater. She promised to devote the rest of her life to Mary’s service if she and her child were saved. It was a promise she kept. On the third day, as per instructions in a dream, the parish priest, Rev. Fr. Miguel Correa, asked the fishermen to cast net in the river, and Meenakshi Amma and her son were rescued. After her death, the church put up the picture of Meenakshiamma and her child alongside the painting of Mary.[2]
The Feast of Vallarpadathamma is celebrated from 16 to 24 September every year. Thousands of pilgrims come to Vallarpadam to participate in the feast, especially on 24 September.[citation needed]
