St. Michael's Church, Mahim

St. Michael's Church in Mahim, Mumbai, where Lady Jamshetjee Road meets Mahim Causeway, is among the oldest Catholic churches in the suburb and is often called Mahim Church. It began as São Miguel, a convent said to have been built in 1534 by the Franciscan church builder António do Porto. From 1739 to 1761 it sheltered the much-loved image of the Virgin rescued from the destroyed chapel of Our Lady of the Mount at Bandra, now in the basilica there.

In 1853 Bishop Anastasius Hartmann and his followers held out inside the church for 15 days rather than surrender it to the rival Portuguese padroado, until civil authorities had it reopened and control passed to the padroado. The present building dates from 1973. The Wednesday novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour draws large crowds, some offering wax models of what they hope for; a priest estimated 40,000 to 50,000 visitors a week.