Mumbai: The Bandra Fair, also known as the Mount Mary Fair, will begin on Sunday, September 8. The fair is believed to date back to the 16th century when Father Andrew Fernandes, a priest from the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic Church, built a chapel to Mother Mary on a hill overlooking the sea. Local lore says that a fisherman had found a statue of Mary with miraculous powers.
Father Anthony Charanghat, former spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Bombay, said that the faith in Mother Mary comes from her reputation as an interceder - someone who petitions God on your behalf. Charanghat said that Virgin Mary, being the perfect Christian and completely free of sin, has the power of petitioning God on behalf of his devotees. "Even during her lifetime, she prayed to her son for those who came to her with their petitions. She is supposed to be a powerful interceder, more than any other saint," said Charanghat.
This faith in her intercession has created pilgrimage centres dedicated to her, like Lourdes, Fatima, Guadeloupe, Vellankani, and Mount Mary. The residents of Bandra's fishing and farming villages, now called East Indians, are believed to have started the religious tradition.
The fair began as an adjunct to the novenas or the nine-day prayers before the September 8 birthday or feast of Mother Mary. It is now one of the biggest such gatherings, attracting both the devout and the revelers who come to enjoy the food, games, food, and cultural events.
The devotional aspects of the event include the novenas, the offerings made by devotees as prayers and thanksgiving, sale of religious icons, and the processions with the statue of Mary in Bandra's surviving villages. The novenas held for nine days in preparation for the feast are the focus of devotion.
People of various faiths take part in the novenas, many of them leaving wax and wood relics as symbols of petitions granted or in waiting. Childless couples leave models of cradles as a prayer. "These gifts represent their total faith in God," said Charanghat.
Jane Rodrigues, a resident of Veronica Road, Bandra, said that the walk to the shrine during the celebrations is a tradition started by her grandparents. "As you sit and pray in the church - a symbol of hope - and listen to the inspiring and motivating sermons of the priests and hear the sound of the beautiful rendition of hymns sung by choirs you will feel peace and positive energy and all your fears, negativity, unhappy thoughts and feelings disappear to be replaced with positivity and good and happy thoughts," said Rodrigues.
A walk through the fair is also a tradition that pilgrims like Rodrigues look forward to. "After mass, a walk through the fair with our family brings back childhood memories. How we used to go for mass at the mount, then on the way back home we would stop to shop for the specialties of the fair - the food and sweets from Mumbai and different states, toys, clothes, jewelry, gadgets to blow bubbles and joyrides," said Rodrigues.
The stalls that spring up during the fair sell everything from plastic knick-knacks to traditional East Indian food like meat cutlets, sausage pulao, and sweets like dodol.
Traditional devotees have often disapproved of the loud and boisterous aspects of the fair and its conversion into a tourist attraction. "I may not approve of all these, but these are symbols of faith. The Lord speaks in tangible signs. Miracles are in themselves not religion," added Charanghat.
