St. Mary's Islands

The story of St. Mary's Islands

St. Mary's Islands, also locally known as Thonsepar, are a set of four small uninhabited islands in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Malpe in Udupi district of Karnataka. Their most striking feature is the distinctive geological formation of columnar rhyolitic lava, which has made them known as a rock formation as well as a landmark.

Scientific studies indicate that the basalt of the islands was formed by subaerial subvolcanic activity more than 90 million years ago. The Geological Survey of India declared them National Geological Monuments in 1975, recognising that unusual geology.

The islands also appear in the history of the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India in 1498, when Vasco da Gama landed here. He fixed a Christian cross and named one of the islands O Padrão de Santa Maria, meaning The Pillar of St. Mary, as a dedication to Mary, mother of Jesus, before continuing on to Calicut on the Malabar Coast.

Today, St. Mary's Islands carry Tentative World Heritage Site status. When people visit, the key things to look for are the small uninhabited islands themselves and the columnar rock formation that sets them apart from the surrounding sea.