Mount Mary sees 60,000 devotees on day 1 of Bandra fair

The existence of Mount Mary fair can be gauged from outside Bandra station itself. With serpentine queues for buses, lost people asking for quicker ways to get to the church, the place was a large mass of slow moving traffic both of people and vehicles on Sunday.

With Sunday being a holiday, it gave a chance to devotees to visit the place for blessings on the first day itself. The eight-day fair (Octave) begins on the first Sunday after Mother Mary's birthday (September 8). The Basilica of Mount Mary is the only church that observes the festivities for eight days. Apart from their novenas being different, the other churches celebrate only on September 8. Unlike when it starts in most churches on August 30, it began from September 5 at Mount Mary, as the Octave celebrations are supposed to begin soon after.

"This year too, the crowd is like it is every year. By 10am we already had around 60,000 people come to church," said Fr Aniceto Pereira, vice rector of the Basilica. The church stated that it had made several arrangement to make sure that seeking blessings was more convenient. Besides the central part of the church, separate queues were allowed from the sides so that more people could see the statue of Mother Mary.

"I visit every year only to see her, as it gives us immense satisfaction," said Lata Sebastian, resident of Vasai who had come with her family. Lata started visiting over 10 years ago, when, as per her, Mother Mary provided relief to her husband, an asthma patient.

A large number of people come to visit the church as they feel that their wishes are fulfilled by being there. Anita Virkar, resident of Jogeshwari was another such devotee. "It cured my sister and my mother's back ache, which is why we come here each year," said Virkar, who offered a body made out of wax to Mary. Devotees believe that offering parts of the body that have an ailment, helps cure them.
Many also come just to be part of the festival – like Dilip Naik, a resident of Ambernath, who came along with his wife and children. "A number of people talk about her and the festival. Since there is a fair and it can be a good outing for our children, we thought it to be a good opportunity," said Naik.

The festival sees various stalls that offer games, giant wheels, food stalls, clothes and other kinds of accessories that make the fair an attractive affair. Also present, are stalls selling East Indian music. "Since a lot of East Indians visit, they like to buy these here," said Manoj Misquitta, who had put up one such stall. A large number of people also like to purchase the halwa and mango sweet made especially during this time. "Each year we come, we like to buy them. This year too, we will be buying them," said Suhas Awalegaonkar, a resident of Vikhroli who was trying them out at different stalls.