Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount (Bandra, Mumbai)

This guide to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount in Bandra, Mumbai opens with a raid by Arab pirates from Muscat in 1700, drawn to the gilded arm of a Marian statue inside the hilltop chapel. It follows the statue back to its arrival from Portugal in 1570 with Jesuit missionaries, the Maratha army's burning of the chapel in 1738, and the Gothic towers consecrated above it in 1904. You'll also hear about the Bandra Fair each September, when pilgrims of every faith climb this hill by the hundred thousand. Stand near the seven-step altar for the closest look at the statue itself.