East Indians UAE (Mobaikar)

ERANGAL ( MADH ISLAND ) FEAST

It is a feast of St. Bonaventure
Erangal is a place in Malad West, Mumbai – India. This place is full of Wadi’s ( Palm Trees ) & close to the beach surrounded by fisher folks. The famous Church of St. Bonaventure, a 16th century Portuguese church is situated on the beach in Erangal. The annual Erangal Feast in January, celebrating the Feast day of St. Bonaventure, attracts thousands of people of all faiths to this scenic spot. Erangal Feast is celebrated since centuries & every year people wait eagerly for this day.

To celebrate this feast people travel by busses, tongas & bullock carts most of them East Indians. People travelled by bullock carts & tongas start their journey the previous night to reach the destination by early hours of morning. People travelled by buses start as early as 4 am, every year hundreds of buses arrive carrying thousands of people for celebration. The day starts with attending the mass at the famous Church of St. Bonaventure situated on the beach in Erangal.

There after people start enjoying by going for horse rides, camel rides, giant wheels & other rides available on the beach front. There are also stalls for different kinds of games like throwing rings, shooting, football. Some people do live cooking in the wadi’s in open air while others prepare their food at home and bring. Lots of East Indian Bands are being played through out the day. People visit each other and the day is spent eating, drinking & dancing. In the evening the fisher ladies in their traditional dress wearing same colours dance to their music along the beach to celebrate this feast.