Bangalore:  The ten day annual feast of St Mary’s Basilica at Shivajinagar in Bangalore commenced on August 29, Wednesay.Thousands of devotees from far and near thronged the shrine to offer prayers on the great day.

The nine-day Novena to mark the grand St Mary’s Feast began on Wednesday. The main feast will be celebrated  on September 8, the Feast day of the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary. During the Novena, Holy Masses are celebrated throughout the day.

On the evening of September 8, a grand procession carrying the 6-foot statue of Mother Mary, draped in a  silk saree, will be taken through the streets of Shivajinagar and back to the Basilica for a grand ceremony.

St. Mary’s Basilica is a spacious Gothic Church designed by a French architect and built in the form of a Cross. A beautiful statue of Mother Mary holding Child Jesus in her arms, set up in an attractive shrine just outside the Church building, is the chief object of veneration At the main entrance of the Shrine  is the  Statue of Our Lady,