Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Bandel

Marian Advocation of Bandel (West Bengal)

La devoción de Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Bandel It is linked to the Portuguese presence in Bengal and the ancient temple of Bandel, considered one of the oldest in Christian India. Local tradition conserves that the Marian image came after rescatada of a shipwreck, because it is also honored as Navigator's Assistant; that explanation belongs to the field of the devotional tradition transmitted by the sanctuary, not to a fully detailed historical documentation in the sources consulted.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción de Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Bandel It is linked to the Portuguese presence in Bengal and the ancient temple of Bandel, considered one of the oldest in Christian India. Local tradition conserves that the Marian image came after rescatada of a shipwreck, because it is also honored as Navigator's Assistant; that explanation belongs to the field of the devotional tradition transmitted by the sanctuary, not to a fully detailed historical documentation in the sources consulted.

La documented history if it places the origin of the temple in 1599, when it was founded by Portuguese settlers in Bandel, in West Bengal. Later on, the sanctuary was established as one of the oldest Christian churches in the region and is the place where the Holy Rosary's advocation is venerated in Bandel.

The image and the sanctuary

The venerated image is popularly known as "Navigator's Assistant"However, in the sources consulted no con seguridad a complete technical description of the size or image - material, measurements or detailed iconography - and such data should be given by no consta.

The official temple is the Basílica of the Holy Rosary, Bandel, also called Bandel Church o Basilica of the Holy Rosary. The available sources present it as a church of great historical relevance in West Bengal, but in the consulted no con seguridad if it has the title of a minor basilica, national sanctuary or diocesan sanctuary; it is clear that in 2019 the Holy See announced solemn celebrations in the basilica of Bandel on the occasion of the World Day of the Sick.

Sponsorship and coronation

In the sources consulted no consta a patronazgo formal of the city, diocese or nation specifically attributed to this advocation in Bandel.

Neither contains a documented canonical coronation for the image of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Bandel in the sources verified here.

Party and devotion

The main party of the Our Lady of the Rosary the 7 October. For Bandel, the sources consulted do not require another date of local solemnity, so the safe date to mention is the general liturgical of the Rosary.

The Bandel shrine remains a place of pilgrimage and historical memory; a journalistic source presents it as one of the most visited Marian shrines in India, with an approximate influx of 500,000 visitors per year. The Holy See also referred in 2019 to the celebrations in the Basilica of Bandel, which confirms its pastoral and devotional importance.

Link to the Rosary

El vínculo con el Rosary is direct in the very title of the advocation and of the temple: Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. The Marian devotion of Bandel is thus inserted into the great Catholic tradition of the Rosary, which contemplates the mysteries of Christ with Mary and finds in this image a concrete center of prayer and pilgrimage.

When a Marian advocation bears the name of the Rosary, the devotional accent falls not only on the venerated image, but on the contemplation of the life of Christ with Mary; in Bandel, this relationship is expressed in the very cult of the sanctuary and in the historical continuity of the Catholic faith of Latin rite in West Bengal.