PilgrimstaysSt Anthony’s Basilica, popularly known as Dornahalli church is situated about 43 kms away from Mysore, India . St Antony of Padua to whom this Basilica at is dedicated, was born Fernando Martins in Lisbon, Portugal in 1195 AD. He joined the Abbey of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, the then capital of Portugal, where he studied for priesthood. When Franciscan friars settled in a small hermitage outside Coimbra dedicated to St Anthony of Egypt, Fernando felt a longing to join them. Upon receiving permission to leave the Abbey and join the new Franciscan order Fernando Martins changed his name to Anthony. The beginnings of the basilica date back to Dornahalli in Mysore to a time over two hundred years ago, when a farmer stumbled across a wooden idol while ploughing his field. Thinking nothing more about it, he gave the statue to his children to be used as a toy. Legend has it a man dressed in a similar costume as that of the statue appeared to him in a dream. He was informed that what he had found in his fields was a statue of St Antony of Padua and was instructed to have it placed in a sacred spot. Again he did nothing about it, following which a series of mishaps befell him and his family. Finally acting on the advice of a priest, who realised that the statue was of the saint, the farmer built a house of prayer. That small shrine eventually grew to be the present day Basilica at Dornahalli. Today Dornahalli church is frequented by pilgrims from different parts of the region. St Antony is considered to be the patron of lost things. Many of the faithful who visit the shrine pray that articles that they have lost be restored to them. Invariably they find their prayers answered and belongings restored. Such is the faith in St Antony that those with seemingly impossible causes come here to pray to the saint and find their wishes granted.
St Anthony’s Basilica, popularly known as Dornahalli church is situated about 43 kms away from Mysore, India
St Antony of Padua to whom this Basilica at is dedicated, was born Fernando Martins in Lisbon, Portugal in 1195 AD
When Franciscan friars settled in a small hermitage outside Coimbra dedicated to St Anthony of Egypt, Fernando felt a longing to join them
Thinking nothing more about it, he gave the statue to his children to be used as a toy
Legend has it a man dressed in a similar costume as that of the statue appeared to him in a dream
The central image of St Anthony — traditionally depicted holding the Christ Child who appeared to him in a vision, with a lily (purity) and a book of the Gospels — is the focus of popular devotion at Dornahalli. The statue is dressed in Franciscan brown robes, and pilgrims bring petitions for lost things, lost people, difficult situations, and the needs of the poor.
The June 13 feast of St Anthony draws pilgrims in large numbers — with outdoor Mass, processions, the blessing of petitions, and the characteristic intensity of Indian pilgrimage devotion. The Franciscan spirit of the feast — simple, popular, accessible — is expressed in the crowd that gathers.
The Tuesday novena to St Anthony — practised across the world by his devotees — is one of the most widely observed Catholic popular devotions. At Dornahalli, as at all major Antonian shrines, the Tuesday morning Mass draws a consistent crowd of devotees maintaining their weekly practice.
Among those who come to Dornahalli will be non-Catholic devotees — Hindus and Muslims who have their own tradition of visiting Christian shrines for practical petitions. The sight of people of different religious backgrounds standing before St Anthony with their requests is one of the distinctive features of Indian pilgrimage culture: the pragmatic ecumenism of the saint.
The basilica complex — set in the Karnataka landscape, with the typical features of a south Indian pilgrimage site (outdoor gathering space, approach path, amenities for pilgrims) — provides the framework for the devotion. The setting among the trees and the red Karnataka soil gives the shrine its particular visual character.
Anthony of Padua was a scholar who could have stayed in his library. He became instead the most effective popular preacher of his century — standing in fields, climbing on walls, speaking to thousands who had no access to formal religion. After his death, the miracles attributed to him were overwhelmingly practical: lost things found, shipwrecks averted, the poor fed, the imprisoned freed. He became the patron of lost things because he spent his life finding what had been lost in the people around him: faith, hope, dignity, belonging. What has been lost can be found.
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.”
Read in full on Bible Gateway →St Anthony’s Basilica, popularly known as Dornahalli church, is situated about 43 km away from Mysore. St Anthony of Padua, to whom this Basilica is dedicated, was born Fernando Martins in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1195 AD.
He joined the Abbey of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, the then capital of Portugal, where he studied for the priesthood. When Franciscan friars settled in a small hermitage outside Coimbra dedicated to St Anthony of Egypt, Fernando felt a longing to join them. Upon receiving permission to leave the Abbey and join the new Franciscan order, Fernando Martins changed his name to Anthony.
The beginnings of the basilica date back over two hundred years, to a time when a farmer at Dornahalli in Mysore stumbled across a wooden idol while ploughing his field. Thinking nothing more about it, he gave the statue to his children to be used as a toy. Legend has it that a man dressed in a similar costume to that of the statue appeared to him in a dream. He was informed that what he had found in his fields was a statue of St Anthony of Padua, and was instructed to have it placed in a sacred spot.
Again he did nothing about it, following which a series of mishaps befell him and his family. Finally, acting on the advice of a priest who realised that the statue was of the saint, the farmer built a house of prayer. That small shrine eventually grew to be the present-day Basilica at Dornahalli.
Today Dornahalli church is frequented by pilgrims from different parts of the region. St Anthony is considered to be the patron of lost things. Many of the faithful who visit the shrine pray that articles they have lost be restored to them, and invariably they find their prayers answered and belongings restored. Such is the faith in St Anthony that those with seemingly impossible causes come here to pray to the saint and find their wishes granted.
