Kuravilangad
Kuravilangad is an Indian city in the Kottayam district of the state of Kerala . The city is located in the Taluk Meenachil, about 22 km north of the district capital Kottayam and 17 km west of the city of Palai . Kuravilangad is the largest city in the northern Kottayam district . It encompasses the entire Kuravilangad Panchayath, including Thottuva, Kappumthala, Vakkad, Kurianad, Mannakkanad, Elakkad, and Kalathoor.
In the year 105 the shepherd children are said to have experienced an apparition of Mary at the current location of the Basilica of St. Mary . In the church there is also a very old statue of Mary made of granite, which is called "Kuravilangad Muthiyamma" (Our Mother of Kuravilangad) by the faithful. The church has an old bell with "Mother of God" engraved in Syriac . Three majestic bells were brought from Germany in 1911 and are one of the largest bells in Asia . The church is also known for its kappalottam, or "racing ship," a memorial to the biblical story of Jonah and the whale.
St. Mary's Basilica in Kuravilangad tried its best to add glamor to the functions of Moonnu Nompu (three-day Lent) during Lent. A forty-foot wooden ship, beautifully built with bow, stern, masts and rigging, on one side a portrait of Jonah who was broken by the fish on the Lord's command , and on the deck wooden sailors in western dress for centuries the center the attraction in the midday procession. Amid the growing mass of humanity, the spectacle gives the impression that the sea is furious, the waves are lapping against the sides of the ship and violent winds are driving the sails out of control.
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Coordinates: 9 ° 45 ' N , 76 ° 34' E