Heritage walk exploring the religious hubs in labyrinth lanes of Bhuleshwar

Bhuleshwar  - The name comes from the word "Bhola" means Innocent and "Ishwar" meaning God, It is known for its one stop shop market place in Mumbai for everything from women clothing to men clothing, household items, flowers and vegetables, Jewellery and diamonds and many more. The labyrinth lanes of this native precinct is bustling on weekdays with its markets and where sellers and buyers are jostling for space.One author Kaiwan Mehta has even written a book "Alice in Bhuleshwar" where he takes the reader for a walk through the streets of this historic neighbourhood reading their history and telling stories of people and places. Like any other older parts of the city, this area also holds secrets. 

The maze of lanes are home to more than 100 temples, many dating back several centuries. The best time to visit them would be on Sunday when the markets are closed in the area and preferably in the morning when the street stalls are yet to open for business. When I decided to cover the temples, I really didn't know where to start from, I just walked to famous landmark of this neighbourhood called "Kabutar Khana" which was my starting point and thought of taking help from google maps but honestly I don't really share a great camaraderie with g-maps so my last resort was to use the age old practise of asking a local about the information which always works.

My first stop was the temple I always wanted to visit ever since I read about it, It is a temple of Sea Goddess and only temple of its kind in Mumbai - Samudri Mata Mandir. It is said that the temple is over 1000 years old and it stands at the same place where the idol of goddess was found. It is said that once the sea used to reach till this place which is very hard to imagine with today's location. 

The temple has only a large hall and a sanctum which holds the idol of the Goddess Mahalaxmi. Two lady dwarpals draped in a Saree, holding a sword guarding the sanctum. Another dwarpal at the main entrance of the temple finds himself caged today.

The two storied Ram Mandir is an ancient temple but it has got a fairly new building structure as compared to others in the vicinity. The entire structure was rebuilt by the temple trust in 1992-93. The sanctum entrance is intricately carved and stands out as compared to a simple and plain temple interiors.

The sanctum doors has Ramayana carved on it. This is not to be missed attraction of this temple. Built by one Seth Bhanji Bhimji - a Gujarati trader. His small statue stands guard at the entrance of the sanctum.

Just a few meters away, is Laxmi Narayan Temple with its colourful and eye catching external facade depicting Lord Vishnu under Sheshnag, Goddess Saraswati on one side and another goddess which I couldn't identify on the other. Lord Krishna playing his flute is also seen. But what catches the eye is a half lady half fish body of a sculpture like a Mermaid and is seen wearing a 9 yard saree. There is also a lady wearing saree in Gujarati style and has a umbrella like structure on her head which is western influence.

At the top of the facade are different sculptures of Rishi in various poses.The temple entrance gets camouflaged among among the row of shops. 

The dwarpal at the entrance are seen sporting a turban and wearing British police uniform with a rifle in the hand. 

The temple interior has many beautiful sculptures worth noticing, One of them was Lord Ganesha with his two wives - Riddhi and Siddhi, both wearing a saree in Gujarati style. Also seen are many flying apsaras but are wearing saree, one set of winged apsaras can be seen wearing Queens crown which is also seen in Dwarkadheesh Haveli at Kalbadevi, again a impact of western influence.

The dome ceiling has 10 incarnation of Lord Vishnu and a large chandelier hung from the ceiling. This was by far the most beautiful temples among all the temples in the small area around Kabutar khana. Luckily when I asked permission to take pictures from the priest, I was happily informed that even pictures of principal deity Laxmi Narayan can also be taken which many other temples don't allow. 

Lady wearing saree in Gujarati style with a umbrella structure covering her head

Mermaid wearing a 9 yard saree

As I look for my next temple on temple trail, I spot Goddess Jagdamba temple. Its a simple and small temple but the Goddess idol looks beautiful drapped in bright shining saree. There is a bust of person who  built the temple from Pathare Prabhu community. The priest confirmed that the temple belongs to Pathare community trust.

Next temple's external facade looked interesting with influence of Islamic architecture and a symbol Yantra which has lot of significance in Hindu religion. The idol is that of Lord Vishnu with his serpent in standing posture.

I read many blogs which commented on the symbol that looks like Star of David and that is our irony. Hindu religion is quiet deep rooted and our religious symbols have a meaning but we identify them with symbol from other religion and not ours. The symbol of six pointed star is divided into two triangles where the triangle pointing downward is known as "Shakti" or feminism and triangle pointing upwards symbolises "Shiva" or male counterpart. Combining the two locked triangle is known as Shanmukha or Shiva and Shakti progeny Kartikeya sometimes also known as just Yantra.

Next door is Shree Balaji Ramji temple built in 1879 and belongs to GSB temple trust which runs many other temples in Mumbai including Banganga temple, Shitladevi temple at Mahim, Ram temple at Wadala to name a few. 

The temple has a art deco tiles on the flooring similar to one seen at Eros theatre.

Next to Balaji temple lies the temple of Lord Jagannath. It is known as Icchapurti or wish fulfilling lord Jagannath temple. Legend goes that ancestors of current priest came from a small village near Jodhpur some 200 years back and served in a temple. One landlord gave them a small piece of land in 1824 where the current temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath stands.

The attractive black idol of Lord is said to be made of wood. Devhara or the main idol holder is made of silver and two dwarpals in front of it also in silver is wearing a traditional Maratha dress and holding a spear.

My next stop was a unique Hanuman temple whose entrance is well camouflaged among the many stalls nearby .This Hanuman temple has an idol which is five faced Hanuman known as Panchmukhi Hanuman. Situated in the middle of the hall under a devhara, the idol is quiet huge and very unique.

It is said that five heads belong to Varaha, Garuda, Hanuman himself, Haygreeva and Narsimha and was a form he took to conquer Ahirvan who was brother of Ravaan.

The Hanuman temple has few more shrines of different god and goddess in the small space. Another unique idol is that of Shiva Linga which has 107 smaller Shiva linga carved on it and along with the main linga makes it 108 Shiva Linga which is considered auspicious. 

A charan paduka and a sacred alter seen in Hanuman temple.

Opposite to Hanuman temple is Shree Krishna pranami temple of 400 year old sect called Pranami sect which is fusion of Hindu and Muslim religions text and consider Lord Shree Krishna as supreme personality. The tradition started during 17th century by Shri Devchandra Maharaj and his disciple Prananath. Raja Chhatrasal of Bundelkhand, father of Mastani of Bajirao Mastani fame was a follower of this sect and so was mother of Mahatma Gandhi.

The temple is like a sea of silver with extensive use of silver, apart from that the ceilings has design painted in bright colours and a row showing Krishna playing with his consort.

One old lady in the temple explained in detailed about this sect and how this sect inculcates text of other religion including Quran and Bible along with Bhagwad Gita. They follow strict vegetarianism and non caste tradition dedicated to Radha Krishna.

A silver effigy of women santri wearing a traditional 9 yard saree.

My next and the last temple in this precinct is 600 year old Bhuleshwar Mahadev temple which gave the name to the area, Legend has it that Shiva Linga in the temple is believed to be have appeared on its own. The Bhuleshwar temple complex has multiple temples within its compound along with some smaller shrines, Interesting tales and description on the same would have made this already long post much longer and hence I have written a separate post on the same. (Bhuleshwar temple blog)

This marked the end of my first phase of walk, I covered only a small area which on a weekday would be brimming with sea of crowd and was pleasantly surprised to find that amidst the cramped co-existence of old buildings and zillion shops, there lies much to my wonderment, Kashi of Mumbai with temples dedicated to varied lords and of different sizes. These temples exude the rock solid faith the devotees instill in these deities rooted strongly in the grounds of Bhuleshwar.

There are many important heritage including some not to be missed temples and courtyards or wadi's in neighbourhood which forms part of another precinct on which I intend to write another post. My suggestion to anyone visiting the place would be to plan it only on Sunday preferably in the morning to appreciate and admire these heritage in more peaceful environment.