St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu
A prominent Roman Catholic church in the Diocese of Kottar, raised to the status of a minor basilica. It is a major centre of the strong Catholic community of interior Kanyakumari district. The basilica is a well-known pilgrimage and festival church in the Marthandam-Kuzhithurai belt.

Plan St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu
St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu is planned from Mulagumoodu, one of the travel bases in Kanniyakumari district. Use Mulagumoodu for stays, food and local transport, then plan this place as a focused stop.
How to visit
- Base yourself in Mulagumoodu or nearby in Kanniyakumari, then confirm the last-mile route locally before travel.
- If access depends on temple, museum or seasonal rules, check on the day before you go.
Best time
October to March is the cooler, drier season in the Cauvery delta.
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Sun and moon are calculated for this location and shown in IST. Photography windows are the hour around sunrise and sunset; the sunset bearing is degrees clockwise from true north. Moon phase is accurate to about half a day.
St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu in pictures
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Add a nearby businessSt. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu — at a glance
Entry: Free
How to reach St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu
About 3 km from Thuckalay; nearest railway Kuzhithurai (~9 km) or Nagercoil Junction (~24 km); nearest airport Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) ~55 km.
If you need step-free access, contact the site before travelling. Ask about a level entrance, steps along the route, the nearest drop-off point, seating and accessible toilets.
Emergency numbers are verified against official government and state tourism sources. 112 works anywhere in India.
What’s near St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu

Also called Thomayar Kovil or Amalagiri Church, it is traditionally believed to have been founded by St. Thomas the Apostle around AD 63, making it one of the oldest church structures in India. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church proclaimed it an international St. Thomas pilgrim centre in 2007. Its oldest sections date to the 17th century and it has never been fully reconstructed.
2.9 km · ~7 min by auto · straight lineThe dargah of Peer Mohammed Appa, a 17th-18th-century Sufi philosopher and Tamil poet who settled at Thuckalay and kept close ties with the Travancore rulers. It is one of the most renowned Sufi pilgrim centres in Kanyakumari district. His annual Urs in the Islamic month of Rajab is a local holiday drawing devotees of all faiths from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
3.5 km · ~9 min by auto · straight line
Former capital and wooden palace complex of the Kingdom of Travancore, one of the largest surviving wooden palaces in Asia, noted for its carved teak ceilings.
4.5 km · ~11 min by auto · straight line
This 17th-century fort was rebuilt between 1741 and 1744 by Maharaja Marthanda Varma under the Flemish commander Eustachius De Lannoy, and served as Travancore's chief military barracks and gun-casting foundry. De Lannoy, his wife and son are buried in a ruined chapel inside the fort, marked by a bilingual Tamil-Latin tombstone. The 90-acre granite-hillock site is now managed as a biodiversity park by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department.
5.7 km · ~14 min by auto · straight line
A Roman Catholic church dedicated to St. Antony, established in 1942 by Rev. Fr. Mathias of Madathattuvilai parish, which held its first annual festival in 1943. It is a locally significant Catholic parish and festival church in the district's Christian heartland.
7.0 km · ~17 min by auto · straight lineOne of the 108 Divya Desams of Vaishnavism, dedicated to Adikesava Perumal (Vishnu), set amid three rivers and known for its reclining deity image.
7.9 km · ~20 min by auto · straight lineOne of Asia's tallest and longest trough bridges, carrying an irrigation canal across a valley on tall stone piers; built in 1966.
8.1 km · ~13 min by cab · straight lineRock-cut Jain temple (locally Bhagavathy Amman koil) carved into a hillock, dating to the 9th century, with sculpted Tirthankara images and a rock-cut stepped approach.
9.4 km · ~16 min by cab · straight line
Coastal town and site of the 1741 Battle of Colachel, where Travancore forces under De Lannoy defeated the Dutch East India Company, and a working fishing harbour today.
9.9 km · ~17 min by cab · straight lineA clean, palm-fringed beach near Ganapathipuram on the district's coast, recognised for its cleanliness. It offers views of both sunrise and sunset. It is a quieter alternative to the crowded Kanyakumari and Sothavilai beaches.
9.9 km · ~17 min by cab · straight lineA Murugan temple standing atop the roughly 200-foot Vellimalai hill, reached by about 106 stone steps leading to a shrine that occupies an acre at the summit. The hill sits between the Western Ghats to the north and the ocean to the south. It offers wide views over the far south of the peninsula.
10.3 km · ~17 min by cab · straight line
A 9th-century temple dedicated to Vishnu as Parthasarathy, established by the Ay king Karunandadakkan. Copper-plate inscriptions record that it was built with a salai, a Vedic boarding school supporting 95 students of the Taittiriya, Talavakara and Bhavishya Vedic branches. It stands as an important early religious and educational endowment of the region.
13.0 km · ~22 min by cab · straight lineWhere St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu is
St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu — frequently asked
When is the best time to visit St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu?
October to March is the cooler, drier season in the Cauvery delta.
What are the entry fee and timings at St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu?
Entry: Free. Timings: Daily, roughly 6:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
How do I reach St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu?
Base yourself in Mulagumoodu or nearby in Kanniyakumari, then confirm the last-mile route locally before travel. If access depends on temple, museum or seasonal rules, check on the day before you go.
How much time do I need for St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu?
About an hour.
What else is near St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu?
Nearby you can pair Thiruvithamcode Arappally (St. Mary's Orthodox Church) (2.9 km), Peer Mohammed Dargah (3.5 km), Padmanabhapuram Palace (4.5 km), Udayagiri Fort (5.7 km).
St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu guides, stories & itineraries
We have not published a story about St. Mary's Basilica, Mulagumoodu itself yet. These cover Mulagumoodu and the wider district, with separate journeys between stops.
Tamil Nadu-wide guides & itineraries
Route-level itineraries and practical guides for the rest of Tamil Nadu.
Image credits
Photographs: Calvin1825, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), Calvin1825 (CC BY-SA 4.0). Wikimedia Commons.