With their lives in tatters, faith is all that many victims of India's tsunami tragedy have left.
At a historic church that rises majestically on the devastated coastline of this sleepy fishing town, dozens of men and women gathered to pray and seek answers to the inexplicable and drastic turn their lives have taken.
Many thousands of people were missing Wednesday with more than 160,000 homeless in India as the death toll reached 8,500 from the tsunami that slammed into the unprotected coastline on Sunday.
"Oh God! Why have you taken my son away? Oh God, bless my son," wailed an inconsolable woman who lost her son when they were on the beach selling fried fish snacks to Christmas revellers and devotees who had gathered in this church town from all over India.
Elsewhere in Nagapattinam, the worst affected district in Tamil Nadu state, Muslims flocked to mosques while the Hindus thronged to temples and lit lanterns as grief gave way to prayers.
Tamil Nadu state suffered the largest loss of life on the Indian mainland with nearby Pondicherry, accounting for about 4,500 dead according to confirmed figures.
The church dedicated to the "healing lady" in Valainkali, near Nagapattinam, about 350 kilometres (175 miles) south of Madras, is an eternal source of strength to the people of this town.
And even on the tragic day when the sea "exploded", the 2,000 people inside the church escaped unscathed. Those outside, even at the church doorsteps, were flung into the air by the waves which rose like a "hill", witnesses said.
"I had just finished the homily when suddenly the electricity in the church went off," said priest M. John who was conducting the mass on tragic Sunday morning.
"There was commotion in the crowd. We could hear some deep sounds outside. I asked the people to remain calm so that I could finish the mass. I finished the prayers and blessed the people.
"It was only when I returned to my room at the back of the church that I realised that something was very wrong. There were waves leaping behind the church."
The sea water, the priest said, had encircled the church and was lapping at its doorsteps. All around it, markets, shops, residential houses and further down on the beach, the flaky fishermen shacks, were all in water.
As the sun began to set and rescue and relief workers started to move away from the mangled mess where many more bodies were still buried under debris, the church microphones crackled after two days as evening mass began.
Clad in tattered clothes and with their remaining belongings clutched tightly, tsunami victims were joined by rescuers and police officers as they held their hands out in prayer.
At the church office outside, many gathered around a notice board pasted with colour photographs of about 400 unclaimed bodies. At least 150 of them were children and among them, many were only toddlers.
Men and women frantically searched the board, hoping against all hope. Some broke down as they plucked pictures of their loved ones and left the office.
All of the victims displayed had been buried in mass graves and their surviving relatives remained uncertain as to where they were resting, only left with the photographs.
In Nagore near Nagapattinam, at least 5,000 people had taken shelter in a 16th century shrine of a Sufi saint.
The shrine's chief cleric Mohammed Khalifa Sahib said he had opened the doors of God's house to everyone.
"There are as many Hindus here as Muslims. The baba (saint) is a great healer. They have come to the house of god, they will be well looked after," he said.