Rameswaram: The annual two-day festival at St Antony’s Church in Katchatheevu, an uninhabited islet in the Palk Bay, is scheduled for March 11 and 12.
Verkodu Parish, which coordinated Indian pilgrimage, commenced the pilgrim registration process on Tuesday.
Rev. Fr. Sagayaraj, Verkodu Parish Priest and chief coordinator of the Indian pilgrimage, said issuance of applications for the pilgrims to register for the pilgrimage commenced on Tuesday and the process would go on till February 6. Pilgrims should submit filled-in applications with all necessary documents by February 10, he said.
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He said 140 boat owners had registered their trawlers for carrying the pilgrims, and this year the parish proposed to take about 4,000 pilgrims. A maximum of 35 people, including five crew members, would be allowed to travel in a boat, he said.
For the first time, Sivaganga Diocese Bishop Rev. Soosai Manickam had evinced interest in taking part in the festival and offer worship at the newly built church. The Bishop’s trip would be finalised after a formal invitation from Jaffna Diocese, which organised the festival, he added.
The pilgrims would leave from Rameswaram fishing jetty in the morning of March 11 and take part in the Way of the Cross procession, to be jointly taken out by the Indian and Sri Lankan pilgrims. It would be followed by a mass in the evening. After the feast mass on March 12, the Indian pilgrims would return home, he added.
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Last year, the festival was held on February 20 and 21, and 3,249 pilgrims, including 694 women and 154 children, participated.
It was during the festival that Jaffna Diocese expressed the desire to build a new church and entrusted the work to the Sri Lankan Navy. The new church was inaugurated on December 23 last, and the ceremony was attended by 82 Indian pilgrims.