The 16th All-Religion Prayer and Get-Together, organised by Daughters of St Paul (DSP) and Bombay Urban Industrial League for Development (BUILD), was held in the tranquil environs of Prarthnalaya, Bandra on 26 January, 2009 on India Republic day.
The whole programme began with a beautiful invocation dance. This was followed by the lighting of the lamp by individuals of different faiths, accompanied by a bhajan (religious invocations), and welcome address in English and Hindi.
The Coordinator, Sr. Pauline Chakkalakal, DSP gave a very comprehensive introductory speech to the entire gathering consisting of people of all walks of life and from different religious traditions. She spoke about the genesis of this event and stressed the fact that “we come together as children of one God and as responsible citizens of our country.” She spelt out the aims and objectives as   “Celebrating unity in diversity and Promoting peace and harmony among various sections of our people, as well as fostering India’s liberative  cultural heritage.
The Prayer Service that followed was in the form of a unique audio-visual presentation which was participatory in nature, wherein persons of different faiths read out teachings from their Scriptures. The essence of all these readings centered around love, peace, sisterhood and brotherhood, forgiveness and tolerance – all attributes so essential to develop and practice in these trying times of turmoil and terrorism, economic upheaval and animosity. It was followed by Panel discussion on “Religion for Reconciliation and Harmony” The function ended with a short Cultural program and vote of thanks.