Mumbai, September 13: Mount Mary Fair-2015 has started today at Mount Mary Church of Bandra Mumbai, a church famous in the country and a symbol of friendship and harmony. It is a week-long fair celebrated in a grand scale. It has a 400 years old history and is called as Mount Mary Fair.

Mount Mary means mother of Mountain. It is said that this Monthi Fest was first started in 1556 at Bandra and then it spread among the Catholic Christians of Goa and Coastal Karnataka. In Latin, Mons means Mountain. Since this fest was first celebrated in the church of Mother Mary at the mountain of Bandra, this gained a name ‘Mount Mary Fair’. But, the Christians in coastal area are celebrating this as the harvest festival as most of them are from the agricultural background.

This feast is a continuous 9 days celebration. Nine days of Novena and worship is held prior to the Nativity of Mother Mary. Little children bring flowers in the beautiful baskets and offer them to Mother Mary. But in Bandra this celebration is held for a week from the first Sunday after the feast of Nativity of Mary.