They teach that it is not prudent to bring about the subject of God at the beginning of an article as it might alienate the readers. I thought on that hard, but then the notion came to me like a cool summer breeze that the word ‘prudent’ was never really given much thought to by the city I am writing about. The city I am from.
So I choose to continue with my take on the much debated analogy regarding whether it was humankind that modelled God on its desires and perceived ideals, or God who modelled them in His image? Some point out that the one thing that separates the two is the inability of humans to create life. Others argue that this is just a temporary differentiation. With the steadily exponential growth in both artificial intelligence and genetic understanding, the day is not far when humans will possess that power too.
Personally, I see this discussion as very unidimensional. It is based on that fickle need to classify as life only that which is bound in flesh and bones, while continuing to have a modicum of control over its growth. While for millennia, we have had the power to breathe life into ideas and make them real, to imagine the unseen and then ingeniously force it into existence. To take barren or overgrown thickets and in their stead build cities modelled on dreams.
It was just such a germ of a dream that King Bhimdev planted when he set up his capital in Mahim – one of now fabled seven islands of Mumbai, towards the end of the 13th century. Such is the nature of life we humans breathe into the places we inhabit, that it flows unbridled once the seed is sown, and then as endeavour and chance nourish its roots and aspirations, it grows strong into a force pulsating with life. Living many lives through its inhabitants.
Rome represents conquest, New York the embodiment of the modern world, faith is what triumphs at Mecca and in Jerusalem. Art rules supreme in Athens, fashion and food liven up Paris.
Mumbai is far too young to achieve such romanticised titles. It is in the phase of grit, resilience and persistence. In its vigour, it has bounded across its limitations as we saw in the earlier two instalments of One India One People (May 2012 and April 2013 issues) and forged from the seven islands, one almost perennially continuous landmass on which beats the fiery heart of a nation that draws strength from this minuscule peninsula of pandemonium.
Continuing our journey from its southernmost tip moving northward, we begin at the island of Mahim, known then to its people and their King Bhimdev as Mahikawati.
Mahim – The crucible of Mumbai
With generous broad strokes, one can divide the history of the islands of Mumbai prior to independence in roughly five time periods – from the stone age to the advent of King Bhimdeva, during which time it was a part of various indigenous dynasties, the Hindu period of King Bhimdeva, the ensuing Islamic period, followed by the Portuguese and the British periods. Of all the islands of Mumbai, the one island which has seen the ebb and flow of these suzerains, has been the island of Mahim. In days gone by, this area which accounts for present day Mahim, Matunga and Dadar, was also known as Maijim and Mejambu.
It is believed by many that the present day Prabhadevi area was where the king built a palace, a court of justice and the temple of Prabhadevi. During his reign, many of his followers coming from Gujarat and elsewhere settled here. A community from these initial settlers, that is little talked about is that of the Pathare Prabhus, an educated, industrious, liberal and soon influential community, which in the years since have contributed tremendously to the development of the city through their active involvement in government administrative processes, social movements and unflinching philanthropy, besides adding their thread to the social kaleidoscope that is Mumbai.
In the 16th century, the area of Dadar was known as Salvesong and Lower Mahim. The oldest surviving (though rebuilt and extended several times) monument in Dadar is a church built in 1596 called the Nossa Senhora de Salvação, which is today a familiar Dadar landmark, and amongst the oldest churches in the city.
Undoubtedly, the most popular landmark in Dadar is the Shivaji Park ground in the heart of Dadar. A large open space, it is swamped with cricket nets and other sporting activities and holds the honorific of being India’s ‘Cricket Cradle’, as it has been the first ground to witness the wizardry of greats such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Sandip Patil and Vinod Kambli, amongst a long list of cricketing icons. This iconic landmark was once called Mahim Park before being renamed after the Maratha warrior king in 1927.
Not too far from the park is the much revered Siddhivinayak temple dedicated to the obstacle remover elephant God, Ganesha. The temple had humble beginnings at the very location, when it was completed by Laxman Vithu under the commission of Deubai Patil, a wealthy lady who was bereft of children and had the temple built so that Lord Siddhivinayak (avatar of Ganesha, who grants your wishes) would bless other barren women. From being a 3.6×3.6m shrine, it has today grown into one of the richest temples of the country, and definitely the richest in the city, with estimated donations of close to $2.5 million annually.
Neighbouring this beacon of faith, in comparatively surprising seclusion, lies a temple dedicated to Prabhadevi. Some believe this to be at the same place where King Bhimadeva had built the original temple and the idol for the temple is also believed to be from the same time period. Local lore around this temple built by Shyam Nayak of the Pathare Prabhu community in 1715 tells a tale of centuries of feared persecution, which compelled the Prabhus to hide the idol first from the Islamic rulers, and later from the Portuguese, who according to several accounts, embarked on a temple demolition spree in order to show the natives the ‘one true faith’. Hidden first in the Mahim creek and then in a well, it was finally pulled out and reinstated after Shyam Nayak saw the deity in a dream and realised that it was time to reinstate her in the temple. The main deity of Prabhadevi was once known by the now forgotten name of Shakambaridevi.
In Mahim proper, or the northern side of the island, is the oldest monument of the island – the Mahim dargah – venerated since 1431, following the death of the Muslim pir Makhdoom Ali Mahimi (1372-1431), a Muslim scholar from Konkan of the lineage of Arab travellers from Iraq. He was appointed Qazi (head cleric) by Ahmed Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat. He soon came to be known for his scholarly treatises, liberal views and humanist ideals. Mahimi was the first Indian scholar to write a critically acclaimed exegesis on the Quran amongst his nineteen authored books. For his prolific writing, he was given the moniker Qutb-e-Kokan or Kokan’s Pole Star. Revered by Hindus and all sects of Muslims, this 500-year old shrine is still frequented by many who come to seek his blessings.
A stone’s throw from the dargah is the St. Michael’s Church. Built in 1534, it is one of the oldest Catholic churches in Mumbai. The current structure, however, was completed in 1973. As is the unusual but exhilarating way in India, not only Christians, but adherents of all faiths congregate to pay their respect to Virgin Mary and attend mass, especially on Wednesdays – the day of the Novena – an act of pious devotion, with the belief that the special prayer on nine consecutive Wednesdays will grant their wishes. On 8 September 1948, the birthday of Mary, concurrent with a Wednesday that year, Fr. Fernandes as the vicar held the first Novena services. Fr. Fernandes had observed a similar custom in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and brought with him a picture touched to the original Our Lady of Perpetual Succour picture, at Rome.
During the time of the Portuguese, the island of Mahim was second in importance only to the island of Bombay, the island with the good bay. It was the outbreak of the plague epidemics of the 1890s that infused new life into the island. The Dadar-Matunga-Wadala-Sion scheme put in place in 1899- 1900 was the first planned scheme in Mumbai, designed by the Bombay Improvement Trust, to relieve congestion in the centre of the town, thereby relieving pressure off the then island city and contributing to a general improvement in sanitation levels. The plan looked to provide housing for over a 100,000 people, and was the spark that led to the growth of Dadar as we know it today.
Other places of importance on the island of Mahim are the Chaitya Bhoomi at Shivaji Park – the cremation ground of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Mayor’s bungalow opposite the Park and the office of the Shiv Sena political party.
At almost the northernmost extreme of the island of Mahim lies perhaps the most ignored and least acknowledged monument of the Mahim Island, the Mahim Fort. Overlooking the Mahim Bay, it was the scene of an important battle in 1772, 111 years after Bombay was squarely in British hands and the Portuguese had attacked the fort. Repelled surely by the garrison of about 100 soldiers and 30 cannons, this landmark is in a state of utter neglect, and not visible unless one scrambles right to the edge of the water through encroachments and a beach path littered with human waste. There are few tragedies more heart wrenching than the pitiable condition of this once noble fort.
The great divide
The rapidly spinning wheels of circumstance were catapulting Mumbai towards the point Seneca speaks of – the point from where there is no turning back. The fusing together of the seven islands via the grand Hornby Vellard in 1838 was the nudge on Mumbai’s shoulder that pushed it over the line to that singularity. Land – the biggest constraint to the growth of the city had just been solved. All seven islands were now a single landmass. The seven islands of Bombay were transformed to the city of Bombay.
The islands fused together up to this point constitute the Mumbai City District. To the north of the island of Mahim lies a creek that separates the city from the much bigger island of Salsette. The swampy area between the city and Salsette made travel dangerous and cumbersome. The ambitions of the city of Mumbai could never have reconciled to just seven islands and the next logical step of expansion was hence, into the island of Salsette, which by many old accounts was known as the ‘granary’; implying that there were once large tracts of fields and fertile soil.
The British East India Company, which was then in control of Bombay refused to fund what was essentially an expensive project, but served no great purpose for them. Considering the importance of the causeway, especially to the locals, Lady Avabai Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, wife of the first baronet Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy pledged to donate the entire amount for the construction of the Mahim Causeway, linking the two islands and in the process, creating a new world. The Rs. 1,57,000 required for the construction had one condition attached to it. She stipulated that no charge or toll would ever be collected by the government for the use of the causeway. The construction of the causeway, in a sense, anchored the freely floating island city of Bombay. Besides giving it much needed room to expand, it brought it in closer land contact to the Indian mainland and laid the groundwork for the arrival of the rail network which would raise the importance of this port town to a completely different level. One can safely analyse that this labour of philanthropy provided the boost that would propel Bombay into the league of a global city.
The island of sixty six villages
Salsette is believed to be a name derived from the Sanskrit number Shatshashti, or sixty-six, that being the number of villages the island housed. Another mention of the origin of the name claims of it being derived from the word ‘salt’ owing to the many salt pans on the island. Topographically, the island was a central mass of hills surrounded by tidal flats. The island itself was once smaller with many small islands around it, like the islands of Trombay and Bandra, the sandbars of and Versova, and other islands like Gorai, Marve and Madh amongst others. Old gazetteers indicate that one could wade across to the islands during low tide.
The island of Salsette is bounded on the North by the Vasai creek, on the Northeast by the Ulhas River, on the East by the Thane creek and Bombay Harbour, and on the South and West by the Arabian Sea. With an area pegged at 619 sq. km., it is almost four times bigger than the Mumbai City District which administers 157 sq. kms of area. It houses the Mumbai Suburban District along with the cities of Mira-Bhayander and Thane on its northern shores, which are administered under the Thane District that extends farther into the mainland as well.
The story of Bandra
Amongst the islands, the history of Bandra is particularly interesting. In Marathi, Bandra is called Vandre, which also means ‘port’, and is possibly derived from the same Urdu/Persian word. It came into Portuguese possession when they defeated Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. Bandra along with some other villages were given to a Portuguese national Antonio Pessao as a reward for his military service for a period of ‘two lives’ or two generations, after which they returned to the crown. Anticipating this time period, the Jesuits petitioned for these villages and received them in 1570. They went on to befriend ‘Rosa’, an Armenian Christian woman, who was part of the Mughal harem and endowed the Jesuits with funds to secure sole ownership of Bandra and three other villages.
The Jesuits built the Santa Anna (St. Anne’s) College and Church in 1570 – the first church on the island of Salsette. While the Portuguese ceded the islands of Bombay to the British as dowry for the wedding of King Charles of England and Catherine of Portugal in 1661, the island of Bandra was not part of the dowry. The Jesuits continued to build more churches including the St. Andrew’s in 1575, and the Chapel to Mount Mary built in 1640. The Jesuits were successful in this period in attracting many converts to catholicism and ruled Fishing boats at Versova beach over the area till 1739, when fearing attack by the Marathas, they appealed to the English for help.
The English Sappers on their part destroyed substantial Jesuit buildings including the St. Anne College and the fortress Aguada to prevent the rampaging Marathas from using these against the English possessions on the island of Mahim. As the Jesuits feared, the Marathas invaded and ruled the region for the next two decades, during which they destroyed various churches and Jesuit buildings including the St. Anne Church and the Chapel of Mount Mary. The statue of the Virgin Mary originally brought from Portugal was recovered from the sea by fishermen and housed in the St. Andrew’s Church before Mount Mary’s Church was rebuilt in 1761.
The European era
Of all the places on Salsette, Bandra has the most number of European era structures. Prime amongst these are the St. Andrew’s Church and Mount Mary Basilica – two of the oldest churches in Bombay. Unlike the Mount Mary Church which was rebuilt, the St. Andrew’s Church has been continuously active since 1575 when it was built. Over the years it has seen repairs and refurbishment, yet the construction and architecture style remain true to its construction era.
A 150 years after the building of Mahim Causeway, a different government finally built another bridge running roughly the same course to ease the commuter traffic – the Bandra- Worli sea link. Ironically, unlike its 19th century counterpart built for the same purpose but with altruism at heart, each round trip on this 8 km stretch can set you back by almost `100 in toll charges. On more cynical days, with the worsening traffic conditions, all this architectural marvel of our century seems to succeed in accomplishing, is helping you arrive at your next traffic jam faster.
It is a strange bridge, this sea link. In some ways, it seems a bridge built to hide away the past under its swanky steel and cable. The bridge virtually runs over the Worli Fort and on looking intently, one can make out the contours of the Mahim fort from it. Closer to Salsette, it provides a glimpse of a rock structure which is the Bandra Fort.
The other surviving monument from the Portuguese era is the Bandra Fort, known also as the Castella de Aguada, and Forte de Bandora, which is located at Lands’ End, the southernmost point of Bandra, and was built in 1640 as a watch tower overlooking the Mahim Bay, the Arabian Sea and the island of Mahim. ‘Castella’ is a corruption of the word ‘Castello’ meaning castle in Portuguese and Aguada which means a water fountain, indicating there was at some point a source of fresh water on the island.
The fort had great strategic value till the 19th century, when the British secured complete control over India. Eventually, its importance declined and post independence, it joined the large number of ‘foreign’ monuments condemned to ruin as India vehemently tried to absolve its past by ignoring it. It’s only recently that a citizen’s movement along with some conscientious local politicians have made some restoration possible to keep alive this landmark at Land’s End.
As the English gained might over India, all of Bombay too came within their control once the Marathas ceded Bandra to the British according to the Treaty of Bassein in1802. The British were lucky to find in Bandra a large community of native Christians converted by the Portuguese, many of who were conversant in the Roman script. It was from these families that the British drew their supplies of clerks, assistants and secretaries. These native Christians later organised themselves as subjects of the British East India Company, calling themselves East Indians. Interestingly, when the British came in possession of Salsette, 90 percent of the population was Christian with a few Hindu and Muslim pockets.
A parched city
It is for a very practical reason that all of the world’s greatest cities were built along the course of a river or at its estuary. More important than any other resource in the flourishing of a city, is the need for fresh water. The islands that made Bombay had their own fresh water sources, but these were under great strain with the mushrooming of the population. Soon, the wells started drying in summer and there were protests on the streets in 1845.
The British East India Company took cognisance of the matter and the committee appointed for its resolution found the riverine network on Salsette as a suitable solution for the problem. The Mithi River was closest to the city of Bombay. It is the estuary of the Mithi River that forms the Mahim Creek. The committee identified sites upstream to construct dams and create reservoirs to store the monsoon flows of the Mithi River. The ‘Vihar Water Works’ commenced in 1856, and was completed in 1860. The various stages of this project resulted in the creation of the Tulsi, Vihar and Powai lakes. This was the first piped water scheme of Bombay.
Of the three lakes, Tulsi and Vihar are still operational as sources of water to Bombay, though a majority of Bombay’s fresh water now comes from lakes on the mainland. Most of the water from the various lakes passes through the water filtration plant at Bhandup, which is the oldest and largest such plant in Asia. The water through here is sent to various underground tanks in the suburbs and the city, where it is stored before distribution.
Years of neglect and abuse has led to the water of the Powai lake to become unpotable. Unfortunately, it is the same bleak scenario with the rivers of Bombay. Waters of all the rivers that originate on Salsette – Mithi, Poisar, Oshiwara and Dahisar – along with their various smaller streams are unfit for consumption due to incredibly high pollution and sewage levels.
For a city with such numerous sources of water available within its limits and from the mainland, it is appalling to see its callous attitude towards efforts to optimise this potential. Year on year, the frequency and acuity of water shortage have been increasing. Even more alarming are the stories of locals around these water bodies, not having access to the water, as it is being piped to meet the demands of the city’s residents. The situation is grave and though there have been efforts by the concerned few who can visualise the apocalyptic situation following a couple of bad monsoons, I sincerely hope that the people and authorities tackle this problem before it takes a disastrous turn.
A magical forest
Mumbai is blessed with something very few cities in the world have – a forest within city limits.
Earlier known as the Borivali National Park, it is a dry deciduous forest with significant bio-diversity. The park stretches into the neighbouring Thane district and the forest area around the Vasai creek is at sea level and has mangrove patches, which unlike at other parts of the city, are still in good condition. A short walk into the forest can give one an idea of the kind of forest that must have once enveloped the entire island, and just how charming that scene would have been to behold for the early settlers who called it home.
It is magical not just for the many species of flora and fauna it nourishes, but also because of the significant role it plays in providing fresh air to the city. The Tulsi and Vihar lakes are situated within its boundaries and it is also the source of all the rivers that run their course across Salsette island. The highest point in Mumbai – Jambul Maal (1480 ft.) – is situated within the forest from where, on a clear day, one can see all three lakes and even the Thane Creek. It is one of the most visited parks in the world, and tourists flock the park in heavy numbers, especially on weekends and during the monsoons. The forest department has recently marked out trails which tourists can walk on securing permissions. Once, it was possible to walk an aqueduct trail within the forest tracing the aqueducts built by the British to supply water to the city. After the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts, this area was declared sensitive, and visitors are no longer allowed to walk those trails.
The park was once home to the Royal Bengal Tiger. In fact, there are records of tiger sightings even on the seven islands of the city before they became an unified land mass. However, the last tiger in Mumbai was shot down 80 years ago and the leopard is the largest predator now found in the forest. In 2003, pug marks and droppings of a tiger were found in the park, but it was not widely seen.
The Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in the suburb of Borivali is quite simply a small patch of paradise amidst the concrete monstrosities springing up rapidly around it. There are many environmental issues in Mumbai and even the SGNP has its fair share of challenges. Encroachments are a constant worry and so is poaching. Various indigenous communities dwell within the forest. Human-animal conflict at the peripheries is a constant challenge and so is the thin line that defines sustainable tourism. Yet, the very fact that such a park exists is kudos to several generations of citizens, activists and far sighted administrators, who post independence increased the 20.26 sq.km park to its current area of 104 sq. km. Quite frankly, the idea of Mumbai without SGNP is unimaginable and well, scary!
A hidden city of caves
On the same land that supports this mega metropolis, sediments of the Pleistocene era (approx. 25 lakh to 11,700 years ago) have been found, indicating inhabitation from at least the Stone Age. The Koli fishing communities are the earliest known settlers of the island. From the 3rd century BCE, Salsette was part of the Maurya empire and became then a centre for Hindu and Buddhist activity. The earliest of these centres are the Kanheri Caves located within SGNP.
It is wondrous to know that over 2400 years ago, Buddhist monks began carving caves for prayer and meditation and over the course of centuries carved out a cave complex of 109 caves from the hard basalt rock. It is from this hard black rock that the caves got their name of Krishnagiri or ‘black mountain’, which over time was shortened to Kanheri.
The cave complex consists mainly of viharas – caves meant for studying, meditating and living. Larger chaityas – the halls of congregational worship were also carved, and these have superbly sculpted pillars, reliefs and sculptures. An elaborate and ingenious rain water harvesting and underground water storage systems were also carved out of stone. It is believed that Kanheri was also a centre for imparting Buddhist education, and the great Buddhist teacher Atisha is believed to have studied here.
Along with the Kanheri group of rock-cut monuments, two other cave complexes are hidden away amidst the hustle and bustle of the city – the Mahakali Caves and the group of caves at Jogeshwari. The Mahakali Caves, also known as the Kondivite Caves are a group of 19 caves which were built at the same time as the Kanheri Caves (beginning in the 1st century BCE).
The ones at Jogeshwari are of a later time period (between 520-550 CE) and contain both Hindu and Buddhist temples. Some believe the cave temple to be the earliest major Hindu cave temple in India and among the largest. It is stupendous that even the name of this cave temple dedicated to Shiva with intricate and ornate carvings of the Gods, seems to have been lost to memory and perhaps to history. Though some caves have new idols installed and are visited infrequently, a majority of the cave complex is lying in various levels of disrepair, infested with bats and endangered due to sewage, waste and encroachers. Anywhere else in the world, these caves would have been tourism mainstays. It is only in India, where our abundance of history, religion and architecture can make for such astounding apathy.
The city of dreams
It is an intriguing island, Salsette, when you put things in perspective. The now amalgamated landmass, a testament to the Portuguese and British periods, while not too far inland, is a veritable 2000 year old city.
There followed an appalling lack of infrastructure in most parts of the country immediately post-independence, with successive governments trying to cope with the huge nation they had suddenly found themselves in possession of. The colonial facilities put in place by the British contributed to almost unsustainable growth for the next half century in Mumbai. With people from across the country coming to seek their fortunes in the island of destiny, the city grew in a mad frenzy, devouring whatever land it could find, while accommodating peoples from across the subcontinent, and providing all it could for their myriad obsessions – from cotton mills to cinema studios.
If you happen to be in Mumbai, footloose and fancy free, with a mind to ferret out the little known details of history waiting to be noticed, there is plenty more to find than can ever be incorporated in an article or even a book. For the time it takes to uncover one thing about it, the city has already created ten more that are absolutely worth knowing. These are odds unbeatable in one lifetime.
And for this, we must thank the innumerable faceless people who carry Mumbai on their shoulders, and in their hearts. For, no one person or people or even country can claim to have made Mumbai. It is that star which has risen from the horizons of unreal expectations, shining through the dark clouds of limited real estate, and with sheer grit and dream, risen above every eclipse it was not supposed to have overcome, to realise this thriving megapolis.
I have a friend from Syria who describes in these words the glory of his home, one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world: “When you come to my country and see the buildings of Damascus and how the city functions, my dear friend, you will believe once again in God and His miracles.”
Well, my dear friend, when you come here and immerse yourself in this covenant of chutzpah that is my home, you will place your faith once again in Man and His dreams.
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Akul Tripathi
The writer is a media professional and freelance writer.[/column]