Mumbai's Oberoi hotel reopens with multi-faith prayer ceremony

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Tight security and hopeful prayer were part of a multi-faith ceremony held Sunday to mark the reopening of Mumbai's Oberoi hotel three weeks after it was targeted in a militant rampage. The simple ceremony, held in the lobby of the reopened hotel, included Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Sikh, Parsi, Buddhist and Jain religious leaders and was attended by the entire staff of the hotel as well as guests. Security around the hotel was beefed up, with sniffer dogs patrolling the grounds and armed policemen standing watch from behind sandbag bunkers near the entrance to the Trident Hotel section of the Oberoi complex. The Trident opened 100 rooms to guests Sunday. "There is no fear. We see the courage of the people and the staff," said Kritika Srinivasan, 28, a regular guest at the hotel who went inside to congratulate the staff. "We have to show them (the attackers) that they can't break our courage and solidarity."