The basilica’s apse contains the figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, positioned atop a seven-step-high white marble altar. The altar also features a tabernacle intended for the Eucharist, with the inscription panis vitae (Bread of Life in Latin).
Good Friday is observed at Mount Mary Basilica with solemnity and profound reverence, reflecting its significance among the Catholic Christians in Mumbai.
The Feast of the Road Cross is celebrated annually on May 31, commemorating the visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Catholic Christianity, the visitation recounts the encounter in the New Testament when the pregnant Virgin Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist. This event is described in the Gospel of Luke 1:39–56.
Mount Mary Basilica is designed in the neo-gothic style, which gained popularity in the late 19th century CE. Materials for its construction were transported by sea and carried up the hill using bullock carts and donkeys. The basilica is the fourth structure on the site. The first chapel, dedicated to Our Lady of the Mount, was established in 1570, at a time when Bandra was under Portuguese rule.
The marble statue of Our Lady of Fatima stands six and a half feet tall, holding a rosary. It was built as a memorial to the Marian Congress held in Mumbai from December 4–8, 1954. Our Lady of Fatima is a title attributed to the Virgin Mary following her apparitions to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
The Mount Mary Grotto, officially known as the Oratory of Our Lady of Fatima, stands facing Mount Mary Basilica across Mount Mary Road. Adorning the walls of the oratory is the sevenfold message of Our Lady of Fatima, encompassing prayer, penance, meditation, peace, rosary, reparation, and sacrifice.
The north-facing elevation of the Suhaveshwar Temple is identical to the south-facing side. The protruding shukanasa, frontal of the shikhara (superstructure), is visible here. It is a semi-circular opening. The topmost portion of the main shikhara is missing. Along the elevation of the temple, the mandapa (pillared hall) shikhara has a row of large ghantikas (aedicules) that cascade from the centre. The base of the mandapa shikhara has a square block with diamond motifs that is topped by a gavaksha (dormer window) design.
Seen here is the north-facing façade of the residential building, a Shaiva matha from the Suhaveshwar temple complex. It is a two-storeyed structure with several rooms on both floors. The matha is in ruinous condition. The exterior stone of the matha is broken in several places.
This is a view of the north elevations of three small and two large temples in the Mahanaleshwar temple complex, most of which are in ruinous condition. Seen here are two large temples, only one of which is preserved with the shekhari variety of shikhara (superstructure). The smaller shrines have pyramidical shikharas. The exterior of the temple walls is devoid of sculptural ornamentation but with geometric patterns, diamond motifs and pillar motifs.
Closer view of the dikapala (gods of cardinal directions) Kubera in the devakoshtha (niche) along the mandapa (pillared hall) dwarf walls of the Mahanaleshwar Temple. Kubera corresponds to the northern direction. The lower two hands of the deity are broken but the upper two hands hold a nakula (money) bag, one of the distinctive attributes of Kubera. The devakoshtha is composed of two slender pilasters surmounted by a miniature samvarna (pyramid-shaped) variety of shikhara (superstructure). The ghantas (bells) of the shikhara are fronted by a udgama (gavaksha or dormer window design). It rests on a low pedestal made up of multiple mouldings.