Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Bandra (Bombay)
On the top of a hill of Bandra, in front of the Arabian Sea, it is venerated from 1570 to Our Lady of the Mount, when Portuguese Jesuits raised there a first chapel with a wooden image of the Virgin brought from Portugal. The present semi-Gothic temple was built in 1904, and Pius XII raised it to minor basilica in 1954, the same year as the canonical coronation of the image.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- The image has a sour story: in 1700, some pirates mutilated it, believing it in gold. After the restoration of the temple around 1760 an image was enthroned together with the tradition of a koli fisherman who dreamed of an image floating in the sea and found it the next day.
- The festival of 8 September, Natividad de María, opens the famous Bandra Fair, which has been held for over 300 years and brings together hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year for a week.
- In 1954, the Marian Year, Pius XII granted the canonical coronation: Cardinal Valerian Gracias crowned the Virgin and the Child with gold crowns, and the temple received the title of minor basilica.
- He has received two papal visits: Paul VI in 1964, during the International Eucharistic Congress in Bombay, and John Paul II in 1986.
Our Lady of the Mount (Bandra)
The Koli fishermen call the Virgin "Mot Maoli," the Mother of the Mount, and their sanctuary is one of the most loved places of prayer in Bombay. Not only Catholics come to him: Hindus and faithful of other religions go up the hill to ask for thanks.
"Our Lady of the Mount, Mother of those who seek you, pray for us.
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