The news of water droplets trickling from Jesus’ feet at a cross at Irla spread like wildfire on Monday, and attracted hundreds through the day to witness the ‘miracle.’

“I am a follower of Jesus, and the moment I heard of this, I came rushing with a bottle. I have taken three to four drops, since others in the line also needed to take blessings,” said Papu Deobandar, 35, homemaker from Nehru Nagar. She then stood waiting for her sister to help her get some ‘holy water.’

People brought vessels of different sizes to collect the water.

Some took pictures and videos, and compared it with previous miracles. “In Chakala, too, there was a similar miracle. This is basically Jesus’s way of helping us wash and cleanse our sins,” said Denzil Gonsalves, another resident.

Sharada Parmar, 62, was the first one to spot the ‘miracle,’ and said that she could not believe it. “After my home puja and Narayan’s puja, I had come to pray at the cross as usual at 8.30 am. While I was praying, water droplets fell on me. When it continued to fall, I was too shocked to believe it.”

Overwhelmed, she called her neighbour to witness it. “I checked His head, hands and shoulders. Everything was dry except the feet from where the water was dripping,” said Perpetual Fernandes, 53-year-old homemaker and resident of the area. “It was then confirmed that it was a miracle, and I collected some of the water to sprinkle at home.”

The cross, which has the statue, is next to Edward Dias wadi in Irla. “It was first built in 1873 as a thanksgiving for the first son born in the Dias family. He was my grandfather,” said Leander Dias, who called the event a miracle.

“The statue came up 10-12 years ago,” said Collen Gomes, a local.

“We reworked the cross in 2001, as it was in a bad condition. Some relics of the old were put into the new one, and the old one was buried in our compound,” said Gordon, another member of the Dias family.