Madu Church well known church in Shri Lanka

The Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu is a Roman Catholic Marian shrine in Mannar district of Sri Lanka. With a history of over 400 years, this shrine acts as a center for pilgrimage and worship for Sri Lankan Catholics.^[1] The site is considered as the holiest Catholic shrine in the island^[2] and is a well known place of devotion for both Tamil and Sinhalese Catholics.^[3] The church has been a symbol of unity not just between Tamils and Sinhalese, but also between people of different religions, including Buddhists, Hindus and Protestants.^[4]

Pope Pius XI granted the image of Our Lady of Madhu a Canonical coronation on 2 July 1924. Attendance for the August festival at times touched close to a million people before the outbreak of the Sri Lankan Civil War.^[1] Situated in the heart of the conflict zone, pilgrimage to this shrine was dramatically affected by the Civil War with the presence of refugee camps around the shrine complex.^[2] It was shelled a number of times.