800,000 join for Marian feast at Gunadala hill

Some 800,000 people prayed at the grotto of Mother Mary on Gunadala hill in southern India’s Andhra ‎Pradesh state the annual three-day Gunadala Mary Matha Festival that concluded on Wednesday.  ‎Devotees from across Andhra Pradesh and neighboring Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and other ‎states participated in the festivities. They broke coconuts, lit candles and tonsured their heads in ‎fulfillment of vows.  Father M Chinnappa the rector of Mother Mary Gunadala shrine said the three-‎day festival witnessed long queues of devotees lining up to the main church, grotto and the Cross on ‎the summit of the hill.  Social Service Centre executive director Father M. Prasad said many have ‎received the grace of healing from barrenness relief from problems. (Source: UCAN)‎