China Harbour funds Rs. 300 m to renovate Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka, Tewatte

The China Harbour Engineering Company, on the request of Public Order and Christian Religious Affairs Minister John Amaratunga, has offered financial assistance to renovate Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka, Tewatte, Ragama. 

The renovation will cost approximately Rs. 300 million and the program will be fully funded by the  company on behalf of the Chinese Government, as a goodwill gesture. The renovation work will start within a week. 

The origins of this shrine date back to the beginning of this Century, when a little shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes (a little Chapel) was erected by a few Catholic laymen and Father A. Kieger OMI, in 1911, the area being then a part of the parish of Ragama. 

On 11 November 1917, Father A. Collorec OMI built a small Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes assisted by some Catholic workers from Colombo. The Chapel was later enlarged to accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims, and in the 1930’s the side of the Church built a large Grotto to Our Lady of Lourdes. The Church and Shrine with the “Holy Well” by its side gradually became a place of pilgrimage to the Catholics of Colombo Archdiocese.

The idea of Basilica was conceived to fulfill a vow invoking the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sri Lanka during World War II. The vow was made on 26 May 1940 by the then Archbishop of Colombo, Jean-Marie Masson who prayed that if Sri Lanka was spared the ravages of World War II,  a Basilica would be built and dedicated to Virgin Mary.