On a tour for the soul
CAMIL PARKHE
Sakal Times, Pune
Tuesday, March 20, 2012 AT 03:03 PM (IST)
Tags: Spice, here & there, travel, France, Paris, Lourdes pilgrimage, Camil Parkhe
Camil Parkhe shares a glimpse of the famous Lourdes pilgrimage in south-western France that attracts devout Catholics from across the world
We were travelling in a high-speed TGV bullet train from Paris to Lourdes. As as we approached our destination, I realised the passengers in our compartment could be the pilgrims. There were three couples with teenaged children; a young nun travelling with her septuagenarian father; and my wife, daughter and I were heading towards the world’s most famous Marian pilgrimage centre.
Lourdes station is a couple of kilometres away from the pilgrimage site. Soon after getting refreshed at the hotel, we hurriedly left for the shrine to attend the evening prayer service there. There were thousands of people on the streets, all of them proceedings to the same destination — the Lourdes shrine. Majority of them were Europeans, but there were also some people, like us, from other continents. We reached the huge grounds in front of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and joined the multi-lingual Rosary prayer there.
Mother Mary is believed to have appeared to teenager Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes 18 times in 1858. Bernadette has indeed transformed this otherwise insignificant town in south-western France. Due to the apparitions, Lourdes today is the third most important Catholic pilgrimage in the world, after the Vatican in Rome and the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. After Paris, Lourdes is also the second city in France having maximum number of hotels. In fact, during our three-day visit there, I noticed there were few residential buildings but more hotels and shops, and other commercial centres, catering to the pilgrim tourists in the town.
The population of Lourdes is only about 16,000, but the town receives six millions pilgrims and visitors every year. About 60,000 of these visitors are ill or physically challenged. I saw many such people being taken around in wheelchairs by nurses who wore blue tunic. They are not nuns, but health workers, I was told. I realised that banking on millions of devout visitors, Lourdes has turned itself into a major ‘pilgrim tourism’ centre of the world.
The major attraction in the evening was the candlelight procession in front of the Basilica. It is indeed a sight to watch, with statue of Mother Mary being carried by the faithful lot. A priest accompanying us told that the huge congregation is a wonderful example of how faith in Mother Mary gets strengthened.
Next morning, we attended a mass celebrated at the famous Grotto, the very site where Mother Mary is believed to have appeared to Bernadette. There is a statue of Mary in white robes and with folded hands, replicas of which can be seen across the world.
On the third day, we attended another mass celebrated by a cardinal in an impressive underground church, the Basilica of St Pius X, which is built under a garden. The mass at the underground church and the prayers at the Mary’s statue is a must for any visiting pilgrim.
A pilgrimage to Lourdes, like visit to the Vatican, is indeed a dream tour for any Catholic. But even for others, a visit to Lourdes, with its picturesque surroundings, can be a refreshing holiday.
While
entering the Vatican Museums, which include the famous Sistine Chapel, one’s
mind is filled with rich expectations. There is so much written about the
paintings of the Renaissance artists Michaelangelo and Raphael. Therefore, I
almost grew impatient as I, along with my family, waited in a long serpentine
queue to enter the Vatican Museums. There were many touts approaching tourists
to offer them entry tickets with premium Euros to jump the queue. But not
prepared to take the risk of being duped, we waited patiently. To our pleasant
surprise, we soon reached the entrance, and purchased the entry coupons. 
The
museums in the Vatican are a series of galleries adorned with statues,
paintings, relics and draperies from the ancient, medieval and the Renaissance
periods. For the connoisseurs of art and culture, research scholars in history
and archeology, and anthropologists, a visit to these museums is a golden
opportunity. 
We
decided to go slow when we entered the illuminated galleries that are decorated
with draperies. As we walked, I suddenly
realised that we had entered the famous Sistine Chapel, which used to be the
venue for the conclave of cardinals to elect the new pope, and where
Michaelangelo created his wonderful paintings. Michaelangelo, who was
commissioned by the Pope in 1508, took several years to create these paintings.
Ignoring
our complaining necks, we looked up — and were thrilled to see the precision and
aesthetics with which the great artist used bright colours to create the
masterpieces. Equally thrilling was coming face-to-face with the Last Judgement.
Just behind the altar at the Chapel, this grand painting made me speechless. The
scale of all these frescoes put me in a trance, as I soaked in the ambience to
my heart’s content. 
In Venice (spelled Venezia in Italian), one sees flowing water everywhere just like the land we see elsewhere. Venice is a famous tourist centre and so we were surrounded by tourists everywhere — moving in pairs or groups, enjoying the boat rides, snapping photographs of the ancient castles and in the churches. The buildings, houses, churches, with typical Venetian Gothic architecture, are located right on the banks of the canals. Naturally, bridges here are in plenty, especially at the Santa Lucia Venezia railway station which is the heart of this famous city. In fact, almost all buildings and structures were not less than minimum 50 years old, our three-storeyed hotel was not an exception either. We did not see any structure with modern architecture, or perhaps they had taken good care to have build new structures in a such way that it would not be an eyesore amid the historic setting. 
Ride in gondola (boats) in Venice is a must for every tourist, as it offers glimpses into the inner parts of the city. Pope Benedict XVI, who had been here just a couple of weeks before us, too was treated to a royal boat ride in the city. We had a ride in gondola when the sun was setting; the view of the floating city, lit up with so many lamps everywhere, was just breathtaking. My daughter went on clicking photographs to capture the beautiful setting.