Mumbai, July 10, 2019: A section of the East Indian community is holding the ‘Mot Mauli Yatra’ for the second year in city gaothans. The idea is to create awareness about the native devotion of Mother Mary. Mount Mary is considered to be one of the native forms of Mother Mary like Our lady of Velankani in Chennai.

“A replica of the statue of Mount Mary will be taken from one gaothan to another from August 1. This enables people to do their devotion at their own gaothan,” said Alphi D’Souza, one of the East Indians who are organising the event under the banner of Mobai Gaothan Panchayat (MGP). MGP is an East Indian body that takes up issues of the community.

The event will see a replica of Mount Mary being brought from Kaka Baptista East Indian Museum. The statue will be taken from one Gaothan to another from August 1 to September 12 where the travelling of the statues ends. “We look to cover around 25 gaothans. On September 14 we will take the statue from St. Michael’s Church to Basilica of Mount Mary and from there it will be taken back to the museum,” said Gleason Barretto, founder trustee of MGP.

The procession will see people dressed in traditional outfits among others. While there are several legends about the Mount Mary statue, members of the East Indian community believe that the present statue at Mount Mary was brought to the Basilica from St. Micheal’s Church, Mahim. “That is what we look to do. It is to remind people about that and it is also easy for devotees to pray at the replica when they reach each gaothan. This is the second year of the procession,” said D’Souza. On September 14, it is taken to the Mount Mary during the Bandra Fair and from then it is taken back to the museum.

“There are various legends surrounding the statue of Mount Mary including that it was found by a fisherman. I do not think that the statue was taken from St. Micheal’s to that place. The statue was first brought by Jesuits from Portuguese at the Santa Ana Church. The present church came up later,” said Fr. Nigel Barrett, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Bombay.

(DNA)