Velankanni is termed as the “Mecca of South Asian Christianity”. The church is dedicated to our Lady of Good Health. Velankanni Church is popularly called as ‘Sacred Arockia Madha Church. Velankanni is about 350km south of Chennai, on the Coromandel Coast, 12km south of Nagapattinam. It is a famous pilgrimage destination for Christians and also for people of other faiths. Velankanni is one of the most visited pilgrim centers of India. A must visit place.
The Taiping Railway Station was built in 1885 to facilitate the transfer of tin to Port Weld in Penang which was then the main point for shipping it out of the country. Before the “iron horse” came into service for this purpose, elephants were used to carry the ore along jungle trails. With the arrival of the locomotive in Malaya – this was the first train put into service here – travel time was greatly shortened to a few hours from two to three days.
The original site of the Taiping rail station was situated at which is now the King Edward VII Primary School. The Taiping station was later re-located when the railway line was extended to Ipoh and Butterworth in the 1890′s or early 1900′s. This station still stands until today. (wikipedia)
