Amid elaborate security arrangements, over a lakh devotees from all faiths, most of them clad in saffron, thronged the St. Mary's Basilica in Shivajinagar for the St. Mary's Feast on Thursday. The event, marking the birthday of Mother Mary, was the culmination of the annual feast of Our Lady of Health.
The 10-day celebrations that began on August 29, with the traditional flag hoisting, culminated in a grand chariot procession on Thursday.
Cutting across caste and creed, devotees from across the State and even from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra congregated at the basilica. The day began with Eucharistic celebrations from 4 a.m. for every half hour. The Archbishop celebrated the festal mass in Kannada and Tamil in the Market square.
Later in the evening, the splendidly decorated chariot with the statue of Mother Mary was taken in a procession through Meenakshi Koil Street, Shivaji Circle, Shivaji Road, Broadway Road, Father Noronha Road, Russell Market and back to the basilica.
The procession started off with the papal anthem — as a form of respect to Pope Benedict XVI, followed by the national anthem. While thousands followed the flower-bedecked chariot, many holding images of Mother Mary chanted “Ave Maria”. Hundreds watched it from their buildings too.
Participating in the festivities, Governor H.R. Bhardwaj spoke of the contribution of Christians in the making of modern India. He mentioned the community's contribution in the field of education, in eradicating poverty and other social evils and its role in serving the poorest of the poor.
Traffic restrictions
In view of the annual feast, the city traffic police had imposed several restrictions on vehicular movement in and around Shivajinagar. As the Shivajinagar bus terminus was closed, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation stopped its buses near Queen's Road.
Taking advantage of this, autorickshaw drivers scalped hapless commuters, particularly those bound for J.C. Nagar, R.T. Nagar, Hebbal, Tannery Road, Nagawara, Banaswadi, Lingarajapuram and Ramamurthy Nagar. The eastern parts of the city witnessed one of the worst ever traffic jams though the police put in their best efforts.
With the ban on traffic on several roads near Shivajinagar and surrounding areas, traffic piled up on Cunningham Road, Cubbon Road, M.G. Road, Infantry Road and Raj Bhavan Road leading to massive gridlocks.
According to the basilica authorities, over 500 policemen were deployed and more than 600 volunteers were on their toes helping to keep everything under control. The rain that lashed the city in the evening did not deter devotees or vendors who had set up makeshift shops in the vicinity of the church. A samosa vendor said he made a whopping profit of Rs. 6,000.
