In 1925 Fr. Arlati PIME, who was then the Rector of St. Joseph’s Orphanage, cut a pathway on the hill and placed a small statue of Our Lady in a niche. This was the beginning of the local devotion to Our Lady. Soon a winding pathway to the grotto was cut out and the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes became an annual feast for the inmates of the institutions and the local Catholics.

In 1933, to commemorate the silver Jubilee feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an 18 feet high iron cross was erected at the summit of the hill. The grotto half way up and the cross on the top beautifully symbolized the truth: “Ad Jesum per Mariam” (To Jesus through Mary). By 1937 it had become a Diocesan feast and Fr. Arlati placed a new statue on the hill and shifted the annual celebration to September 8 th . An altar in front of niche was also built so that Mass could be said on the hill on different occasions.

The pathway was widened and paved and it was found necessary to deepen the grotto and level the ground. This was a Herculean task but well accomplished with patience and hard work by Msgr. A. Bianchi, the Vicar General, Rev. Br. Bertoli and Rev. Br. Crippa. In 1947 after Msgr. Bianchi left for Italy and Bro. Bertoli continued the work. Due to the rains in the month of September, the feast was shifted back to February 11. Pictures of the 15 mysteries of the Rosary, in kaolin paint ware, were set up along the pathway leading to the grotto. In 1951, a beautiful masonry arch and a staircase leading up to the statue was built to facilitate the installing of a new statue of Our Lady presented by Msgr. Ambrose De Battista, then vicar General of the PIME, and later became Bishop. The
beautiful statue of white cement weighed 300kgs brought from Italy.

When Bishop Joseph Thumma, the third Bishop of Vijayawada, took charge of the diocese, he extended the feast to 3 days. The main church was built and blessed in 1971. Bishop Marampudi Joji, the fourth Bishop of Vijayawada initiated a study for the process of raising the shrine to the status of Basilica. He has added a significant feather to the shrine by transferring the mortal remains of the first Bishop of Vijayawada – Bishop Dominic Grassi from Italy to Gunadala and renovating the cemetery beautifully.

In the year 2016 the fifth Bishop of Vijayawada Most Rev Joseph Raja Rao Thelagathoti S.M.M. blessed the renovated Pilgrims’ Rest house. Fr. Eleti William
JayaRaju the present Rector (2016- …), built St. Joseph’s Stage for spiritual and cultural activities on different occasions and built the extended cement road from the main road to the Church. The Mysteries of the Rosary which were built on either side of the extended approach road were inaugurated by Bishop Joseph Raja Rao SMM and blessed by the Vicars General Msgr. Mesapam Gabriel and Msgr. Muvvala Prasad on 31-01-2019. The Fountain of the Gunadala Matha was blessed and inaugurated by Bishop Joseph Raja Rao on the same date. On 2 nd February 2020, Bishop Raja Rao SMM laid the Foundation Stone for the Centenary Basilica Church of Gunadala Lourdhumatha Shrine.