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Christmas in Mumbai (2026): Bandra's Lights, Midnight Mass and Plum Cake

Festivals & Events · Discover Mumbai Team · 7 October 2026 · 6 min read

Christmas in Mumbai (2026): Bandra's Lights, Midnight Mass and Plum Cake

Christmas in Mumbai belongs to the city’s old Catholic communities: the East Indians, whose villages were here before Bombay was a city, and the Goan and Mangalorean families who came later. Bandra is where it shows most, with lit-up lanes, cribs in front gardens, plum cakes queued for at century-old bakeries and midnight Mass at the basilica on the hill. But the oldest church in the city was consecrated on Christmas Day, and the season reaches well beyond Bandra.

This guide covers where to see the lights, which churches to visit, where to buy Christmas sweets and cake, and the practical things that change around the 25th. In 2026 Christmas Eve is a Thursday and Christmas Day a Friday, so the holiday runs into a long weekend.

The short version

  • The lights: Bandra from about mid-December, best between 7 and 10 PM on the evenings of the 23rd to the 26th. Start at Ranwar village and Hill Road.
  • Midnight Mass: at Mount Mary Basilica in Bandra or one of the old churches in South Mumbai. Arrive well before it starts.
  • The food: plum cake, marzipan and kuswar, the plate of Christmas sweets, from the old bakeries of Bandra and Byculla. Order a week ahead.
  • Good to know: Bandra is extremely crowded on Christmas Eve and Christmas night. Go on foot or by train and auto; there is nowhere to park.

Bandra

Bandra was a cluster of village hamlets, many of them Catholic, long before it became a suburb, and Christmas is when you can still see those villages most clearly. Our Bandra guide has a walk through the area at any time of year.

Ranwar village. Off Waroda Road near Hill Road, Ranwar is one of the original hamlets of Bandra, an East Indian Catholic village about four hundred years old and a listed heritage precinct. At Christmas its narrow lanes and old houses are hung with lights and stars, and families set up cribs, nativity scenes, outside their doors. Look out for the crosses at the lane corners: residents say many were put up to ward off plague, and the one in Ranwar Square dates from 1866. Walk slowly, keep the noise down and do not go into gardens: this is where people live.

Hill Road and Damian’s window. Hill Road is Bandra’s Christmas shopping street, for stars, lights, tree decorations and gifts. Its best-known sight is the window of Damian, a furniture store on Hill Road, which for about thirty years has been dressed overnight for the season: the new display appears on 1 December, it is never repeated, and it stays up until 6 January, the feast of the Three Kings.

Mount Mary Basilica. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount, on the hill above Bandstand, is lit and decorated for the season, with a crib and nativity scene, and its Christmas Eve Mass draws big crowds. The steps and the road up are packed that night.

Carter Road and Bandra Reclamation. In 2025 the Carter Road promenade was strung with lights through the Christmas week. In 2025 the seafront promenade at Bandra Reclamation also hosted Bandra Wonderland, a free festival of light installations, music and food stalls from 24 December to 1 January. It has run in recent years; check that it is on in 2026 before you go.

Want something quieter than Bandra? Go on a weekday evening before the 20th, or try the old churches of South Mumbai below.

Churches and midnight Mass

Most Catholic parishes hold a Mass at or around midnight on 24 December, and Anglican churches a midnight or Christmas morning service. Times vary, so check the parish notice or website in the week before, and arrive at least half an hour early for the popular ones. Visitors are welcome; dress modestly.

  • St Thomas Cathedral, Horniman Circle, Fort. The oldest church in Mumbai and its first Anglican church, finally consecrated on Christmas Day 1718. Our Fort and Kala Ghoda guide covers the area around it.
  • Holy Name Cathedral, Colaba. Built in 1905 in the Gothic Revival style, and since 1964 the seat of the Archbishop of Bombay.
  • The Afghan Church, Navy Nagar, Colaba. The Church of St John the Evangelist, built between 1847 and 1858 in memory of the dead of the First Afghan War, with fine Victorian stained glass.
  • Gloria Church, Byculla. Built in 1911 to 1913 on one of the oldest Catholic sites in the city, where Portuguese Franciscans built a church in 1632, and restored with a UNESCO heritage award in 2019.
  • St Andrew’s Church, Bandra. Built by Portuguese Jesuits in 1575 by the sea, and for half a century the only church in Bandra.
  • Mount Mary Basilica, Bandra, as above.

Christmas food

Kuswar. The Christian communities of the Konkan coast make and swap plates of Christmas sweets called kuswar, or koswad among Mumbai’s East Indians, for whom the word also means the Christmas Eve dinner. A plate usually holds kulkuls (small curled semolina sweets), neureos (fried pastries filled with coconut and dried fruit), rose cookies, marzipan (in Mumbai often made with cashew rather than almond), guava cheese, nankhatai and a slice of rich, dark Christmas cake. If you are invited to a Catholic home over Christmas, you will be handed one.

Where to buy. Order by mid-December; the old bakeries sell out of plum cake in the final week.

  • J. Hearsch & Co., Hill Road, Bandra: a bakery that has been running since about 1920, for plum cake, fruit loaves and Christmas sweets.
  • American Express Bakery, Byculla: established in 1908 and in Byculla since 1938, known for its Christmas cakes and sweets. It also has a branch on Hill Road in Bandra.

Eating out. Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day lunch are the busiest meals of the year at hotel restaurants, many of which run set menus and brunches; book a week or more ahead. For Goan and coastal food, O Pedro in BKC is a good choice.

With children

In 2025 two ticketed family festivals ran in BKC: World of Christmas at Jio World Drive, a carnival of games, food stalls and decorations on weekends from 13 December, and Hamleys Wonderland at Jio World Garden from 24 to 30 December. Both usually return; dates are announced in late November, and we add them to our What’s On page when they are. The Bandra lights, the crib at Mount Mary and the decorated malls are free.

Practical notes

  • What is open. Christmas Day is a public holiday, so banks and government offices close. Most sights, malls and restaurants are open, though some small, family-run places close for the day.
  • Bars. In December 2025 the state let licensed bars stay open until 5 AM on 24, 25 and 31 December. Check the announcement for 2026 nearer the time; our nightlife guide has more.
  • Crowds and transport. Take the Western line to Bandra station and an auto or walk from there; roads around Hill Road and Mount Mary are jammed on Christmas Eve. Keep an eye on your phone and wallet in the crowds.
  • Weather. Late December is the best weather of the year, around 30°C by day and cooler at night. It is also peak season, so book hotels early: see our where-to-stay guide.
  • New Year’s Eve follows a week later. Our New Year’s Eve guide covers it.

Sources

The 2026 dates for Bandra Wonderland, the ticketed Christmas festivals and the bar timings are announced in late November and December. We will update this page and our What’s On page as they are.

Header photo: A plate of kuswar in Bombay by Kenneth John, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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