Kolkata: To celebrate the Yuletide spirit, the West Bengal government has come up with a special tourism package in which faithfuls will be taken on a Christmas tour of the churches in Kolkata, Bandel and Chandannagar.
West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation officials said that the whole night tour will begin Saturday evening with a visit to the St Andrew’s Church, St John’s Church and St Paul’s Cathedral in the city.
The midnight mass on Christmas day will be at the 417-year-old Bandel Church on the banks of River Hooghly, 40 km from Kolkata.
After a visit to the Chandannagar church late at night, the tourists will be brought back to the city early Sunday morning.
On a visit to Bandel shrine during the Christmas season over 100,000 visitors of all religious beliefs are expected to see larger than life size statues of popular Christian saints like Mother Mary, Mother Teresa, Don Bosco, St Joseph, St Francis Xavier, St Ignatius of Loyola, St Augustine and larger-than-life size Stations of the Cross depicting 14 scenes from the final hours of Jesus’ life with 54 odd statues. The Portuguese Augustinian monks had established the church in 1599.
