Kolkata all geared up for Mother Teresa's sainthood

Mother Teresa's canonisation would take place thousands of miles away at the Vatican, but her adopted city Kolkata would be a part of the historic occasion on Sunday.

From giant screens beaming live her canonisation to projection of songs and films depicting her journey and holding special prayers, the eastern metropolis is all set to match the Vatican on the big day.

The West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO), which set up the Mother's Wax Museum, has put up screens at strategic locations in the city's satellite township Newtown area for showing the sainthood process of the Albanian nun.

The screens would also put out slideshows on the life and times of Mother Teresa, who made Kolkata her home and set up the Catholic order Missionaries of Charity, hailed across the globe for its service to the poorest of the poor and the infirm.

Similar screens have also been installed in the city by various clubs.

While a series of events including a "Thanksgiving Holy Eucharist" have been lined up to celebrate the occasion, the city would observe this Sunday with solemn prayers to be conducted by the Archdioceses of Calcutta and the Missionaries of Charity.

Gautam Lewis, once a polio stricken child who found his home in the Missionaries of Charity (MoC), will be releasing 'Mora Gaang' - a song dedicated to the Mother.

The song which begins with "Oh, beautiful sky, Oh mother, hold me up, let me fly", blends Indian melody with contemporary western rhythms and will be launched simultaneously across 220 countries on Sunday.

Lewis is also organising an exhibition of photographs depicting Mother Teresa's life and his own childhood and "Mother Teresa and Me" -- a film documenting the orphanage where he once lived.

While Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is at the Vatican to attend the canonisation, her government has drawn up elaborate plans to use the occasion and boost tourism.

According to state tourism minister Gautam Deb, Mother Teresa's life and her works would be put on the state tourism website giving a glimpse of the Mother's life in the city.

Among the several places associated with her, the tourists have been making a beeline to visit the "Mother House", the global headquarters of the MoC in the city.

--IANS

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