Bandra Fair is a week-long fair held annually in the
Bandra
Bandra (Indian English, æːɳɖɾa also known as Vandre (Help:IPA/Marathi, aːn̪d̪ɾe is an upscale coastal suburb located in Mumbai (Bombay) area of the Konkan division, Maharashtra, India. The suburb is located to the immediate nor ...
suburb of
Mumbai (Bombay)
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
, India. It starts on the Sunday following the 8 of September at the
Mount Mary Church, Bandra
Officially the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount Bandra, colloquially known as Mount Bandra and Mount St Mary Church, is a basilica of the Catholic Church in India located at Bandra in Bombay (Mumbai).
The shrine celebrates the festival commem ...
, the feast day of the
Nativity of Mary, the virgin-mother of Jesus Christ,
[Devotees throng to Bandra Fair on opening day as stall owners protest](_blank)
'' DNA'', 13 Sep 2010. The Bandra Fair is estimated to be around 300 years old. According to a
legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
the fair started when a statue of St Mary was found floating in the
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...
between 1700 and 1760, which a
Koli Christian
Koli Christians are a religious subgroup of the Koli people, known as East Indians, the indigenous people of the Seven Islands of Bombay and the Bombay metro area, which is now also called Mumbai (Bombay). The Koli Christians were of the Son Kol ...
fisherman had dreamt about a few years earlier.
Monti Fest
''Monti Fest'' is a major Catholic festival held on 8 September every year by the Latin Christian community of Konkani people, originating in the Konkan region of India, and their descendants in the Canara region of south India. This festiv ...
celebrated by Goans and Mangaloreans is similar to the Bandra Fest, and coincides with the Nativity of Our Lady.
History
![Mount Mary Church (Bombay)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Mount_Mary_Church_%28Bombay%29.jpg)
Although the current church edifice is just 100 years old, the history behind the current statue of Our Lady of Mount goes back to the 16th century when
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
priests from Portugal brought the statue to Bandra and constructed the Mount Mary Church there. In 1700, Arab pirates disfigured the statue by cutting off the right hand. In 1760, the Mount Mary Church was rebuilt and the statue was substituted with a statue of
Our Lady of Navigators from the
St. Andrew's Church nearby. This statue had an interesting legend. It goes that a Koli fisherman dreamt that he would find a statue in the sea. The statue was found floating in the sea between 1700 and 1760. A Jesuit Annual Letter dated to 1669 and published in the book ''St. Andrew's Church, Bandra'' (1616–1966) supports this claim. This was believed to be a miracle by the locals, and the Bandra Fair was started to celebrate this. However, in 1761, the original statue of the Lady of Mount was renovated with a child in her arms and returned to the church.
The Shrine began attracting devotees from all the surrounding areas of the city. Devotees used to arrive at the foot of the hill by bullock carts. Some arrived by ferryboats from across the
Mahim creek
Mahim Creek (locally known as ''Bandra ki Khadi'') is a creek in Mumbai, India. The Mithi River drains into the creek which drains into the Mahim Bay. The creek forms the boundary between the city and suburbs. The creek is swamped by mangroves a ...
. They would park their carts along groves of mango trees at the foot of the hill and walk up the slope to the basilica at the top. After concluding their spiritual obligations, the pilgrims would now move back down whilst enjoying the merry fair.
Celebrations
The Fair draws
lakh
A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...
s of devotees and pilgrims annually. During the Fair, tens of thousands visit the shrine of Our Lady of Mount. The shrine attracts people from all faiths who pray to Mary in thanksgiving or requesting of favours.
Many pitch up stalls selling religious objects and an assortment of candles shaped like hands, feet and various other parts of the body. The people who are ill choose one that corresponds to their ailment and offer it in the basilica along with their supplications.
After visiting the basilica, pilgrims descend from the Mount using the Steps on the eastern side.
The stalls lining both sides on the way down offer pilgrims sweets like Guava cheese, ''Kadio bodio'' (tiny stick made of
Maida flour
is a white flour from the Indian subcontinent, made from wheat. Finely milled without any bran, refined, and bleached, it closely resembles cake flour. is used extensively for making fast foods, baked goods such as pastries, bread, several varie ...
dipped in sugar syrup and dried) from
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
, Mawa
peda
Peda () or Pera is a sweet dish hailing from the Indian subcontinent. It originated from Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India. Usually prepared in thick, semi-soft, its main ingredients are khoa, sugar and traditional flavorings including cardamom see ...
(thick cookie made using evaporated milk) from
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
, ''
Halva
Halva (also halvah, halwa, and other spellings, Persian : حلوا) is a type of confectionery originating from Persia and widely spread throughout the Middle East. The name is used for a broad variety of recipes, generally a thick paste made f ...
'' from
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
, and
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, and the
chikki (a sweet made from groundnuts and jaggery) from
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
are usually found at the stalls during the fair.
Only stalls erected within the boundaries of the basilica come under its jurisdiction, all other activity beyond that is organized and controlled by the
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Stalls line the street from the gate at the bottom of the steps all the way to the old 'September Garden' located in the
Mount Carmel Church compound, which is the tail end of the fair.
Complaints
Recently, there have been many issues raised by the residents residing on the Mount Mary Road in Bandra where the Fair takes place. Some residents have complained that all the public transport is reserved for pilgrims during the fair, leaving the nearby residents with no transport. Due to large scale cooking on the roads, some residents have complained of pollution, while many have complained that
mosquitoes increase in number during the fair. Also, nearby dental clinics and dispensaries on Mount Mary Road prefer to remain closed during the fair.
Popularity
The Bandra Fair is very popular in Mumbai. Every year, different political parties set up their political banners across the suburb of
Bandra
Bandra (Indian English, æːɳɖɾa also known as Vandre (Help:IPA/Marathi, aːn̪d̪ɾe is an upscale coastal suburb located in Mumbai (Bombay) area of the Konkan division, Maharashtra, India. The suburb is located to the immediate nor ...
inviting the pilgrims to the Fair. The Bandra Fair as known as ''Monti Saibini-che Fest'' in Konkani vernacular, is also popular outside India especially with the Indian Catholic diaspora. A similar event called the "Bandra Feast" is organized annually by the India Social and Cultural Centre (ISCC) in
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
.
References
{{Reflist
External links
* http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1190520
* https://web.archive.org/web/20080912080000/http://mountmarybandra.com/the-church/bandra-fair
* https://web.archive.org/web/20081028141918/http://www.bandraonline.com/festivals.htm
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110714133029/http://www.mumbaipluses.com/maladborivaliplus/index.aspx?page=article§id=1&contentid=200809262008092615072520087cc50af§xslt=&comments=true
* https://archive.today/20060529054904/http://www.theindiancatholic.com/bandra.asp
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110714133041/http://www.mumbaipluses.com/andheriplus/index.aspx?page=article§id=1&contentid=2008092620080925132816285722f4e4§xslt=&comments=true
Hindustan Times* http://www.mumbai.org.uk/places-of-worship-in-mumbai.html
Festivals in Mumbai
Fairs in India
Annual events in India
September events