The army announced , the shrine of Our Lady of Madhu has been reopened, and will remain open until August 17 to allow pilgrims to visit the place during the celebrations for the feast of the Assumption. Only 200 faithful will be allowed to visit per day, since the area is still dangerous.

Just a week ago, the bishop of Mannar, Joseph Rayappu, had decided that the celebration would be cancelled because of the constant fighting in the area between government troops and the LTTE. The shrine has been abandoned since April because of the constant fighting, and the statue of the Virgin Mary was taken away. Last week, the bishop brought the statue back to the sanctuary, but said that there would be no celebration there because the place was not safe.

"The first group of pilgrims came at 10 o'clock this morning", said Msgr Victor Soosai, vicar general of the diocese. "Every day", he adds, "about 200 pilgrims will visit, and Masses will also be held for the various groups, but there will be no solemn celebrations on 15 August, which is the tradition".

The area in which the Church of Our Lady of Madhu stands was under the control of the LTTE until last April 25. One year ago, the security forces of Sri Lanka and the LTTE had agreed on the institution of a "no war zone" around the shrine in order to guarantee the safety of pilgrims during the major religious holidays. But neither of the parties respected it completely. Because of the fighting, the entire area is strewn with landmines.

In order to facilitate the visits for the pilgrims, the army said that they have cleared the mines from an area of about one square kilometer around the shrine, and have made the road passable.

The pilgrims will be brought to the shrine on buses belonging to the government, and will be returned to a safer area. Since there are no shops around, the government agreed to provide food and water for the pilgrims.

The shrine of Our Lady of Madhu is visited by faithful of various religions. Every year, especially at the feast of the Assumption, up to 300,000 believers gather there.