Konkan style wadas and heritage in Arnala village - Heritage walk in Arnala and around

Arnala - The name may not ring bell to many residents of Mumbai and even if it does then it would be due to island fort referred commonly as "Arnala Fort". Arnala is known as a fishing village located at the northern most tip of Mumbai near the mouth of Vaitarna river at the distance of 9kms from the last suburban railway station of Virar on western line.

But if we dwell deeper in history than Arnala village like its twin sister village of "Agashe" was part of a larger island which had Sopara at its centre and Vasai at its southern end separated from mainland by a creek. The entire Vasai region is also said to be a part of ancient Aparanta region whose capital was Sopara and the region gets mentioned in epic of Mahabharata and other puranas. It was in 1516 when the region was in control of Muslim rulers of Gujarat, one of the chieftain Sultan Mahmud Begda originally constructed the fort of Arnala due to the strategic location of the island. The region came under the control of Portuguese in 1530 when they established operations in the coastal areas headquartered at Fort of Bassein. 

In early 1700 when Marathas established supremacy in Maharashtra, They set their eyes on the coastal areas of Mumbai under Portuguese rule. In 1737 legendary leader Chimaji Appa - brother of Peshwa Bajirao 1 took over Vasai fort. His commander Shankarji Pant then asked him to bring the fort of Arnala under their fold as it was strategic importance. In the battle for Arnala fort between Maratha and Portuguese, locals of Bolinj and Arnala village participated and fought along with 400 Maratha soldiers under the leadership of Bajirao Belose, Gangaji Naik and Rayajirao Surve and captured the fort in second attempt.

A samadhi temple of Bajirao Belose still exist today in a private property at the entrance of Arnala village. The temple is completely engulfed by huge trees growing over it and looks like a movie scene of Jurassic park or like one of the temple ruins in jungles of Angkor Vat in Cambodia.The temple being a samadhi, does not have any idol but has Vishnupads in the centre. The ceiling of the temple still has colourful design which can still be seen. This was one of the highlight of my walk in Arnala village.

A well near Samadhi temple

Arnala village is just not the fishing village on the mainland or the fishing village surrounding the fort. Arnala limit starts at 3 kms after Agashe village as one moves towards the beach and it predominantly became a Maratha settlement after 17th century. Traces of heritage and architectural beauty can still be seen in abundance in form of old bungalows and some really beautiful Konkani style wada's. The characteristic features of these houses or wada's include single or double storied structure with wooden doors and windows & sloping roofs with Mangalore tiles. Most of the houses would have a courtyard and even home gardens. 

Intricately carved wooden pillars and brackets are seen clearly in one of the finest wadas of Tendulkar family.

Madhav Baug wada surrounded by tall coconut trees and lap of nature.Banana plantations are a common sight here along coconut trees.

Arnala is home to a heritage temple of Lord Ram which is built in 1884 in Maratha style architecture mainly seen in Konkan region. The recently painted temple structure is well maintained by the locals. As you enter the temple compound, one notices a deepstambh with Lion heads carved at the bottom as if they are bearing the load of the structure. The temple compound has two smaller shrines, one dedicated to Lord Shiva and other is dedicated to Lord Dattatreya.

The main temple includes shrines of Lord Ram and smaller wooden shrine facing it housing the idol of Hanuman. Interiors of the temple exhibit Peshwa style of architecture, Wooden frame partition the main prayer hall in three parts, The area in front of the main idol is dedicated for devotees, while the sides of the hall is for patrons who wants to do meditation or indulge in chanting of prayers. In olden times the partitioned area on the sides was reserved for musicians, bhajan or prayer singers.

One gentleman Mr. Samant whom I met at the temple narrated that during important religious days of Hindu calendar, The temple becomes hub of activities when the locals gather with kids, there are bhajan's, prayer's and other performances organised. This way the temple acts as community gathering place. An interesting story of the temple goes that a parcel box lay abandoned at Sanjan station in Gujarat which when opened had an idol of Lord Ram, this idol was brought to Virar and the headmaster of the station requested one of the local from Arnala to install it in the village. This was how the temple was decided to be built in the village some 150 years ago on a land donated by another villager.

When the temple foundations was being laid, They found idols of Lord Ganesha and Hanuman along with a very beautiful cannon. The idol of Ganesha finds its place in the shrine of Lord Dattatreya while the idol of Hanuman has its own dedicated wooden shrine placed in the main hall.

The small cannon is proudly displayed in the temple compound. 

The temple also has a samadhi at the back of the main building. 

Another resident, Mr Samant, whose property houses the samadhi temple of Bajirao Belose narrated another interesting trivia. He added that every year on Ram Navami day, The village bears a festive looks, A palkhi procession is carried out from the main Ram temple in the middle of the night which meets another similar palkhi procession which comes from another Ram temple located in old Koliwada village. Both the palkhi procession meets at a chowk and it is considered auspicious to pass below these palkhis.

Legend has it that one year it so happened that palkhi procession from Koli community Ram temple passed earlier than the palkhi procession from the main Ram temple and did not meet, That year Koli community had to face the wrath of the God and they faced huge losses in their business. Since that year both the palkhi procession would wait for each other at the village square or the chowk.

I also visited the other Ram temple located in the fishing village called "Juna Koliwada" at the distance of one km from Arnala. The temple is also an ancient structure built around 200 years back. It is said that Koli community were earlier not allowed then to enter the main Ram temple hence they built their own Ram temple for their community in their village.

The interiors of the Koli community Ram temple has beautiful and colorful alter which houses the idol of Lord Rama, Laxman and Sita. Temple interior has wooden pillars on stone foundation, wooden ceiling and intricately carved brackets. The alter which has main idols is a beautiful colored structure carved in wood.

Smaller shrines dedicated to "Gram devta" and another temple of Hanuman is also situated in the same compound. A peculiar wooden shaft as high as 2 storied lie in front of the one the Gram devta shrine which is something very unique, similar such structure lies in the temple on the fort island.

Some more wada style houses seen on the way in Juna Koliwada village.

I ended my walk with a visit to Arnala Lighthouse which has been functioning since 1996. But unfortunately could not visit it from inside and get an insight on its functioning due to some renovation work being carried out. My heritage walks has so far have made me realise that there is so much to explore and so much to learn about Mumbai and its surrounding areas, These walks highlights not only the historical shades but also the architectural shades of the city that we are not aware about.

My earlier blog exploring neighboring ancient village of Agashe (Agashe village blog)