Madonna visits Mumbai's religious sites on India visit

Posted 01 10 2008 5:49AM

MUMBAI (AFP) - Madonna, dubbed the Queen of Pop, visited a synagogue, a church and a mosque on Wednesday in India's financial capital as part of a holiday with her family.

The 49-year-old multiple-Grammy-award winner was accompanied by her film director husband Guy Ritchie and Australian author Gregory Roberts, whose bestselling autobiographical novel "Shantaram" is set in Mumbai.

Dressed in a black T-shirt, jeans, shawl and boots, the pop star and her group, which included bodyguards, visited the 124-year-old Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue in south Mumbai.

After a meal at the plush Moshe's restaurant at upscale Cuffe Parade neighbourhood, Madonna and company visited the Afghan Church, which was built by the British to commemorate the dead of the First Afghan War of 1838.

This was followed by a quick look at the famous Haji Ali mosque, one of Mumbai's most popular landmarks.

Madonna, Ritchie and their three children arrived in Mumbai Tuesday morning by chartered plane from the historic city of Udaipur in western India, where they spent New Year's Eve.

On Tuesday, Madonna walked through narrow lanes in a slum and visited a flea market.

She also met Bollywood star Suniel Shetty on Tuesday night.

Around New Year's Eve, Madonna and family spent nearly a week in the desert state of Rajasthan, where they went for horse-riding trips and kite-flying.