Officially, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount, colloquially known as Mount Bandra and Mount St Mary Church; is a basilica (shrine) of the Roman Catholic Church, located at the Bandra neighbourhood of Bombay (Mumbai), India.

The festival of the nativity of St Mary, also known as Holy Marymas or the Bandra Fest, is celebrated here on the 8th day of September: The auspicious occasion of the birth of the virgin-mother of Jesus Christ. The annual feast is followed by a week-long fair or fête, known in the northern Konkan region as the "Bandra fair". The fair is thronged by lakhs of tourists, pilgrims and devotees every year.

Statue of the Virgin Mary

thumb|left|A statue of the [[Mary of Nazareth|Virgin Mother Mary of Nazareth (Mothi Saibini in the Bombay East Indian dialect and in the Goan Konkani vernacular) outside Mount St Mary Church, Bandra.]]

Although the current structure and edifice of the shrine is just 100 years old, as it was rebuilt in British Bombay, the history behind the current statue of Blessed Mary goes back to the 16th century, when Jesuit priests brought the statue and constructed a chapel on Mount Bandra, which was then a part of the Portuguese East Indies. In 1700, Sunni Arab pirates raiding the area, were interested in the gilt-lined object held in the hand & desecrated the statue by cutting off the right hand.

In 1760, the church was rebuilt after the Mahratta Invasion of Goa and Bombay ended, following which the statue was substituted with a statue of Our Lady of Navigators from the St Andrew's Church nearby. Legend has it that a Koli Christian fisherman, dreamt of the statue floating in the sea, as prophesied in the dream, the statue was indeed found the next day, floating in the sea. A Jesuit annual letter dated to 1669 and published in the book St Andrew's Church, Bandra (1616–1966) supports this claim. Koli fisherfolk call the statue as Mot Maoli, literally meaning the "Pearl Mother" or "the Mother of the Mount"; mot could be a corruption of the Indo-Portuguese word monte for "mount"; maoli is a Marathi-Konkani word for "mother". The original statue is now restored and is enshrined in a place of honour at the basilica. Bombay East Indians as well as Hindus visit this shrine often, making the place a prominent feature of intercommunal harmony and interfaith dialogue for Mumbai (Bombay).

right|thumb|300px| Interior of the church

See also

  • Mother goddess#Christianity
  • Weeping Crucifix in Bombay
  • Bandra Fest

References

  • Official Web Site