It is one of the Catholic pilgrimage centers in India dedicated to the Our Lady of Snows, a title given to Mother Mary.

On 9 June 1555, the Miraculous statue of Mother Mary arrived Tuticorin through the ship named Santa Helena.

In 1658, When the Protestant Dutch rule began in the Pearl Fishery Coast,[1] the feast of Our Lady of Snows was banned, the Catholic Churches were taken away and made warehouses and celebrating the Holy Mass was prohibited.

On 4 April 1704, Tuticorin and the surrounding villages were saved miraculously by Mother Mary from the heavy thunder bolt.

[5] On 30 July 1982, Pope John Paul II elevated the building to the status of a minor basilica in an apostolic letter entitled Pervenusta Illa.