Shrine · India

Infant Jesus Shrine, Bangalore

Vivek Nagar, Bangalore, India

"Infant Jesus Shrine, Bangalore is a very popular pilgrim spot. Services are conducted in multiple languages"

Highlights

1On Thursdays, the day dedicated to the Infant Jesus, the shrine opens at 4 am in the morning and stays open until midnight!
2The original statue first appeared in 1556, when a Spanish Duchess, Maria Manriquez de Lara brought the image to Bohemia upon her marriage to Czech nobleman Vratislav of Pernstyn
3An old legend in the Lobkowicz family reports that Maria’s mother, Dona Isabella, had been given the statue by Saint Teresa of Avila herself
4Today the statue is housed in an elaborate shrine located in the Church of Our Lady Victorious, in Mala Strana, Prague, Czech Republic
5He travelled back to Bangalore for the inauguration of the Infant Jesus Shrine, Bangalore which was a dream come true for thousands of devotees

Getting There

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Address

Church of the Infant Jesus, Viveknagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560047, India

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Directions

The Bangalore shrine is in Viveknagar, accessible by bus or auto-rickshaw from the city centre (about 30 minutes). The Mumbai shrine is in Malad West, accessible by Western Railway local trains to Malad station.

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Timings

Current time — India Standard Time (IST)

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When	Hours	Note
Shrine	6:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursdays Extended hours; opens from	5:30 AM

; services throughout the day Thursdays are the principal devotion day — arrive early as crowds build rapidly. The feast of the Infant Jesus (third Sunday of January) draws the largest annual gathering. Photography generally permitted.

Masses & Events

Thursday Novena Mass

Multiple times on Thursdays from 6 AM to 8 PM

The central weekly devotion; each

Feast of Infant Jesus

Third Sunday of January

Principal annual feast; all-day

Masses and procession Daily Mass

Morning and evening

Regular parish schedule on non-Thursday days

Must See

The Image of the Infant Jesus

Main altar The richly dressed figure of the Infant Jesus stands above the altar in royal garments, right hand raised in blessing, left hand holding the orb. Pilgrims pass before the image to touch, pray, and offer candles. The queue moves slowly; no one is hurried.

The Votive Offerings Wall

Side aisles Thousands of ex-votos left by those whose prayers were answered

gold and silver objects, plaques, photographs, letters. A living record of intercession and gratitude extending across decades.

The Novena Service

Main church and grounds The Thursday novena combines prayers, litany, and Mass.

The atmosphere is electric

a crowd of people who are entirely serious about what they are asking. Outside, vendors sell candles and religious articles in the streets surrounding the church.

The Shrine Grounds

Outside the church [OUTDOOR] On feast Thursdays and major feasts, the crowd overflows the church and fills the entire surrounding area. Loudspeakers carry the service to those outside.

The devotion of the crowds

Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and those who claim no religion

is palpable. The Infant Jesus Museum/Treasury — Adjacent to the main shrine Displays the history of the devotion, replicas of the Prague original, and votive gifts. For pilgrims unfamiliar with the origins of the devotion, this contextualises the shrine.

Intentions

Carry these intentions into the Basilica with you — pause at each sacred spot and lift them to God.

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For children and for all who love them

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For families where children are longed for but not yet given

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For the sick, especially the young

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For the harmony of all faiths in India

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For those who find God more easily in the image of a child than in any other form

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For the poor who come to this shrine with nothing but their hope

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For those going through periods of darkness — that the infant light of faith may persist

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For those who come here on Thursdays year after year and have never been disappointed

Reflection

Every Thursday, tens of thousands of people of every faith queue before a figure of a child dressed in royal robes. They bring their impossible hopes — for children, for cures, for jobs, for reconciliation — and they lay them before a statue 47 cm tall. The God who made the universe became a baby. The logic of the Infant Jesus devotion is built on that fact. Nothing is too small for the attention of a God who chose to begin as an infant.

Suggested Scripture — Matthew 18:3

Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Read in full on Bible Gateway →

A Pilgrim's Prayer

Infant Jesus, King of the universe clothed in an infant's robes, I come to you with a heart that has grown too large for its own weight. Give me back the simplicity I have lost. Let me come to you as a child comes — not with theology or argument or qualification, but with open hands and the honest words: I need you. Bless me. Amen.

The Infant Jesus Shrine at Vivek Nagar in Bangalore has been drawing increasing numbers of devotees over the years. From its humble beginnings in 1971, when it was housed in an old tent, the shrine has grown exponentially over the decades. Today the shrine attracts devotees from several parts of the country. Novenas and Masses are held in English and all the South Indian languages. On Thursdays, the day dedicated to the Infant Jesus, the shrine opens at 4 a.m. and stays open until midnight — such is the throng that comes to pray to the Infant Jesus for favours.

Devotion to the Infant Jesus

Devotion to the Infant Jesus can be traced back to Prague, in the present-day Czech Republic. The original statue first appeared in 1556, when a Spanish duchess, Maria Manriquez de Lara, brought the image to Bohemia upon her marriage to the Czech nobleman Vratislav of Pernstyn. In 1628 it was donated to the Carmelite friars by Princess Polyxena of Lobkowicz. An old legend in the Lobkowicz family reports that Maria’s mother, Dona Isabella, had been given the statue by Saint Teresa of Avila herself. Today the statue is housed in an elaborate shrine located in the Church of Our Lady Victorious, in Mala Strana, Prague.

The Rose Garden

Turning back to Bangalore in the mid-sixties, the Vicar of the Sacred Heart Parish was scouting for a site to build a new church for the faithful hailing from Somanahalli, as Vivek Nagar was then known. On one of his trips he passed by a lush and well-tended rose garden and was so impressed by it that he felt the need to establish the new church there. Considering the income that the garden would be generating for its owners, Fr Paul Kinatukara, the Vicar, felt the price would be beyond his limited means.

On a suggestion that he pray to the Infant Jesus of Prague, Fr Kinatukara undertook a novena for two months for help in his quest. Before long, his prayers were answered, and the rose garden was offered for sale and bought at a very reasonable price.

Building the Shrine

When the foundation for the Infant Jesus Shrine was laid in 1969 by the Most Rev Dr S Lourduswamy, the then Archbishop of Bangalore, the site was thick with vegetation and infested with poisonous reptiles, with not a single street light. After functioning from a tent for nearly a decade, the new church saw the light of day on 29 June 1979. By this time, Archbishop Lourduswamy was now a Cardinal and had been appointed Secretary of the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, at Rome. He travelled back to Bangalore for the inauguration of the shrine, which was a dream come true for thousands of devotees.

The Present Church

This first church served for over a quarter of a century, until it was replaced by the present modern structure. The current church can accommodate about 2,500 people and has nine faces, designed in such a way that no matter where one is seated, you feel that you are facing the altar. Since many of the events that were a turning point in the making of this shrine a reality occurred on a Thursday, the day was dedicated to the Infant Jesus — a practice that continues to this day.