After last year’s long-drawn dispute over the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount’s decision
After last year’s long-drawn dispute over the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount’s decision to conduct an online lottery for the allotment of nearly 140 stalls during its annual fair in September, the distribution process this year was congenial.
This year, reports that a stall selling candles near the entrance to the Mount Mary Steps has been rented out for
Rs one lakh has amazed Bandraites. However, Father Sunder Albuquerque, vice rector of the basilica, said that there has been a modest hike of Rs 50 per square feet for a stall measuring 150 square feet. The church stuck to its last year’s decision to do away with traditional practice of preferential allotment to a few local families. They hiked the price from Rs 550 to
Rs 600 per square feet. They have allotted 130 stalls and 10 more are waiting to be allotted. It is a very water-tight process,” said Albuquerque.
The fair started on Sunday 14 September, when the church celebrated the feast day or birthday of Mother Mary. As per tradition, the eight-day fair starts after the feast. This year, religious services will take place in the backdrop of the basilica’s resplendent facade, restored after extensive repairs. In his message to devotees, Father Vernon Aguiar, rector of the shrine, said the restoration has revealed magnificent, teak columns, cast-iron railings, and stonework. These and historic marble panels, discovered on-site and once part of the sanctuary, will soon grace the altar base, forging a profound link to the church’s sacred past, said Aguiar.
Appealing for help in the restoration process, Aguiar added, “Yet, this vital restoration has significantly depleted our reserves. From our hearts, we appeal to your generosity to help us recover these costs and preserve this legacy for generations.”
The spiritual experience is the primary intention of the huge gathering, but the gastronomic delights are part of the fair’s experience. The fair is an adjunct to the religious event and evolved from a few stalls selling food to famished pilgrims to the big festival it is now. Jovan Coelho, a Mahim resident who will put up a stall at the Mount Carmel Church Fair, which runs parallel to the main fair, said, “For visitors wanting a taste of Goan and the local East Indian Catholic cuisine, the fair is a rare opportunity,” said Coelho.
Coelho serves sorpotel in three versions, pork, liver, and chicken; vindaloo, potato chops, meat patties, pork roast, and fugias or spongy fried bread. For those fond of sugary foods, there is guava jelly, dodol, and Kerala halwa. Roasted black chickpea is another specialty food at the fair.
The most popular dish at the fair is pav or Goan break encased in a chorizo, a pork sausage with origins in Portugal and Spain. Thelma Pujari, a resident of Chimbai village, Bandra, who sets up a stall at the fair, gets the sausages from a Goan village. Pujari, who has kept a stall at the fair for the last eight years, did not get one in the draw organised by the church. “I am feeling very hurt because I will not get to serve the devotees. They leave their homes in the morning to reach the church. When they are hungry, they come to my stall,” said Pujari, who is hoping to set up shop at one of the BMC stalls.
Over One Lakh devotees expected at Mount Mary
The music and amusement rides are another attraction. David Vaz, a media consultant who spent his childhood in Bandra, remembers the photo booths with props, contortionists, and the motordome or wall of death, all of which have disappeared from the fair. “We volunteered at a thrift shop selling donated clothing, proceeds from which went to charity. Generation Z has taken over,” said Vaz.
There are misgivings among those who failed to get a stall in the lottery. “The church’s decision to allot stalls through a lottery has affected old residents who set up stalls at the fair. I am afraid the fair’s charm is being lost,” said Rupesh Gomes, whose family was among those that had traditional claim over the stalls.
Celebrity stylist gives free haircuts on two days of the fair
Amidst most of the year, Thompsun Fernandes, who has a hair and make-up salon on Chapel Road, helps celebrities maintain their posh hairstyle. On the first and last day of the Bandra fair, he offers free haircuts to visitors.
The service, he said, is his way of thanking Mother Mary for helping him do well in his business. “We pray to Mother Mary and ask her for different things. A lot of people cannot afford a visit to the salon. This is my way of giving back for favours received,” said Fernandes who has patrons such as Sunil Shetty, Ajay Devgan, Jimmy Shergill,
Last year, he gave 60 free haircuts. The year before, 120 people received the service. There is usually a queue that forms outside the temporary shed that he sets up outside his salon on Chapel Road.
Other attractions
Cafeteria run by the nuns at Mount Mary Convent School.
Rosary chorizo sausages, so called because they are strung like beads.
September Garden in the Mount Carmel Church compound is a venue for free musical and entertainment programmes, shoots, reels, and dancing.
East Indian Bazaar at St Andrews Quadrangle on Saturday, one day before the main fair.
News Edit KV Raman
