Madhu Palliya is a Roman Catholic shrine situated in Maradamadu, Mannar District. It is considered one of the holiest Catholic shrines in the country.
Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu (Mannar) T he Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu (Sinhala: මඩු දේවස්ථානය; Tamil: மடு மரியாள் ஆலயம்) is a Roman Catholic shrine situated in Maradamadu in Mannar District, Sri Lanka. It is considered one of the holiest Catholic shrines in the country (Hyndman, 2003). History The locals in Mannar island who converted to Catholicism are said to have fled to the Madhu area in 1544, following the massacre of some 600 Catholics by the Hindu king of Jaffna (Hyndman, 2003). Around 1670, the church built for the Lady of Madhu was standing in Mantai junction but, due to the persecution of the Dutch, the Catholics there left Mantai along with the statue of Lady of Madhu in the church (Asanga & Nishantha, 2018). They also reached the Madhu area and established a small Catholic shrine and began the religious activities (Asanga & Nishantha, 2018). With the advent of the British, the site gradually became a sacred site of pilgrimage of Catholics. On 8 August 1872, the construction of the new church building was …
