Last month we celebrated the 525th anniversary of the arrival of Vasco Da Gamma. Without the Portuguese influence, there would not have been the Church at Vallarpadam and also many other churches in and around Kochi.
It make one wonder why Portuguese had such a strong faith in Mother Mary. They had built a church and honored the faith and celebrated their resort in Mary in all the lands they have shored.
It was one heck of a sailing which Vasco Da Gamma in his ship Sao Gabriel undertook along with the fleet he lead to reach India. The turks have blocked the other route to India, and the Europeans were desperate to find another sea route to the East for trade. That is why he took the risk upon the command of his King John II of Portugal to find the spice route.
To sail around of Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa was a nightmare. Only the severest of faith can help a man from despair and destruction. Such was the bad weather in the channel of Mozambique. It was the faith of Vasco Da Gamma and the other sailors and their resort to Mother Mary which helped them survive the ordeal and let them sail through the coasts of Mozambique, Mambosa and Milindi, from there all the way across the ocean to Calicut favoured by the current and the Monsoon.
On May 28th, 1498, Vasco Da Gamma, stood in front of Zamudiri (Zamorin) not as a conqueror but with all the humility of a trader asking permission to trade in the King Zamorin's land.
Rest is history.
Hi, greetings and good wishes. I have been slow on my blog posts for quite some time now. I have to be more regular to catch up with my friends.
ReplyDeleteVery useful and informative and interesting details you have provided in this post. Perhaps Vailankanni is another instance of Portuguese devotion to Mother Mary.
You have also provided interesting details about Bolghaty Island Palace which I did not know.
Wish you all the best.