Thousands of devotees from various parts of the country thronged the world famous Christian pilgrim centre Velankanni in Nagapattinam district for the New Year Celebrations. Special mass commenced by 11:15 pm on the New Year eve to thank the almighty for all the good things happened during 2012. On the New Year’s day, prayers and special aradhana were performed all day long for peace and prosperity in 2013.
Bishop of Thanjavur Devdoss Ambrose presided over the prayers in the presence of Velankanni parish priest Michael Adigalar. The huge pandal put up on 60,000 square feet area in the premises of Shrine Basillica was teeming with pilgrims. All the lodges in Velankanni and nearby areas were full. Throughout the day, special prayers were held in many Indian languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Urdu, Hindi, Konkani, Bengali and other languages.