Mount Mary Festival, Mumbai - The celebration of hope and faith

Mount Mary Road

19^th September, 2015

Groups of people walking towards the Mount Mary church

The most sought after festival of Christians after Christmas in Mumbai is unarguably the Mount Mary festival, held at the Mount Mary Church, Bandra. The festival is a week-long affair accompanied by a fair held on the Mount Mary road near the church complex.

The wax miniatures and two young lads 

The fair largely has stalls selling wax dummies of various things like a house, a baby or that of a limb, boat etc. The whole idea is, for all that you wish for, buy a dummy of the same and offer it to Mother Mary. It’s a faith with which people come to the festival that Mother Mary will fulfill their wishes.

What surprised me the most is that it seemed less of a Christian festival than a celebration of faith. And this was evident from the crowd which visited the festival. It had more number of Gujaratis, Maharashtrians, Punjabis, etc. than Christians.

The idols of  Lord Jesus

The beautiful interiors of the Mount Mary church

While a whole lot of people walked on the demarcated pathway, for me it was a blissful cloudy afternoon, walking up the Mount Mary road, feeling the south west monsoon winds and the intermittent glimpse of the sea and rushing waves from the narrow aisle formed by the towers along the road. And the religious ambience around added to the whole experience.  

The serene environs and the wild waves forming the backdrop

Juhu Beach - As the sun sets...

An evening of February 8, 2015...

Colourful beach wear and decorative shacks,

Swanky beach side bars and feet tapping music.

When its beaches, all of these is what we think,

But then there's much more to it than just these sumptuous things.

Some scattered candyfloss vendors,

And some astrologers on the move.

One selling smiles on a stick,

And other making you grin with his fancy future picks.

Some ‘bhuttawalas’ here,

And colourful ice gola stalls somewhere.

One warming up the evening with its roasted corn and tangy spice,

And other freezing the taste buds with a plate full of flavoured ice.

As the young folks rejoice the waves,

Kids try their hand over the sand and its cave.

While some couples share love over a coconut,

There are friends posing for a groupfie against the sea, the shack and the hut.

The beach and the sand may seem the same each day.

But these small little activities make it a place that is different every day.