Heritage walk around the old neighbourhood of Mumbai - Inside Kalbadevi
The first thought that comes to mind when thinking about Kalbadevi area of Mumbai is the busy and bustling road throughout the day. The area is known for traders of bicycles and secondhand books, then there is "dawa bazaar" for everything related to medicines including equipment's at Princess street, another nearby hub is "electric bazaar" on Lohar chawl road, It is also hot-spot of textile markets and readmade garments. But earlier Kalbadevi was also known as a residential area and formed part of "native town" as British called it. It was the unplanned settlement outside the walled Fort area and got its name from the temple of goddess Kalbadevi.
With increase in real estate prices in late 19th century, More and more people opted to sell their houses and move in Northern suburbs of Mumbai but even today there still exist pockets of residential areas in cross lanes and in nearby neighbourhoods. Kalbadevi road stretches from opposite Metro talkies to Bhuleshwar area, A straight road is today more of commercial business district then residential locality but being an old neighbourhood, it has some interesting heritage in its belly which I decided to explore on a Sunday morning starting from Metro Talkies and highlight.
Metro talkies or Metro Cinema as it was called earlier is an art deco heritage grade-2 building. It was originally built and run by MGM - the Hollywood studio giant in 1938. It was meant for people from upper section of the society and only showed movies produced by MGM. It hosted the first filmfare awards night in 1955. It was only in 1970 when it was taken over by Gupta family that it started showing the glitzy Bollywood movies. In its heydays it was favorite place for Bollywood's red carpet film premier.
Just opposite Metro talkies lies two buildings on either side of the road, one of them is newly painted Victorian era building which is one of the budget library and bibliophile's paradise called Peoples Free Reading Library. It has been in existence since 1845 and was renamed in 1891. It was built by Gujarati merchant Damodar Gordhandas Sookhadwala.
Next to the library on Kalbadevi road lies a piece of heritage that is often easily missed. It is Shri Cowasji Jehangir fountain which was presented in 1865. It is defunct fountain today yet someone had put a vermilion tilak on it.
At the other end of the Kalbadevi road entrance is Mumbai's famous landmark and one of the oldest Parsi cafes - Kyani & Co, Founded in 1904 by Mr Khodram Marezaban, It was taken over by one Aflatoon Shokri in 1957 and today is run by his son Farokh Shokri. It is the quintessential Parsi cafe with rustic chairs around the round table, wooden shelves and large glass pained walls. The eatery rich in history, oozing old world charm and its delicious culinary offerings is one of the most well known among Parsi cafes.
The building which houses Parsi cafe is also a heritage site - Jer Mahal, Built in 18th century, It is the oldest residential building in the area and marked Indianisation of architecture which was known as "Vernacular style of architecture". Looking at the dilapidated state the apartment is in today, No one would believe that it had stained glass windows and was meant for rich locals.
Today the building houses something more interesting, The Goa in its rooms known as "Goan Kudds"- Kudds are unique rental system that has been in existence since last 150 years, It is a dormitory style clubs where catholic migrants from Goan village can stay at fraction of hotel room price. Each Goan village had its own kudds reserved for its residents.
Opposite to Kyani cafe lies another Parsi cafe which is now closed. Bastani & Co along with Kyani cafe were once known as "adda" for old Parsis, students from St Xavier's college and lawyers of small cause court. The building above the cafe still has some windows with stained glasses.
One important heritage which lies next Jer Mahal at Takwadi is the single screen theatre known as "Edward Theatre". Opened in 1914 it was named after King Edward V who visited Mumbai in the same year. The art deco building initially started out by staging plays. The theatre moved to showing movies and was meant to be for locals while Metro cinema was meant for upper class sections of the society.
The theatre was leased from its original owners who migrated to Pakistan post partition by Bejan Bharucha and his German wife Gertrude Bharucha. After Bejan's death in 1984, His wife took over the running of the hall. Today Poonawala family are the owners of this single screen theatre.
Another interesting trivia about this place is "First class" tickets were not sold to ladies because it was top tier furthest from the screen and had steps in the section which were very high. The reason was the ladies were sarees and dupattas and in darkness, there was a possibility of nasty fall.
There is something very unique to this theatre is its "Time ball" on top of the building. It was a time signalling device that consist of painted wooden or metal ball that would enable navigators aboard ships to verify the settings of their marine chronometers.
Before moving further on Kalbadevi road, Another beautiful not to be missed building is Atash Behram or Parsi fire temple in the vicinity. The imposing front entrance with huge pillars to the Parsi Fire temple is known as "Anjuman Parsee Fire temple"- Built in 1897 it is one of the only nine Atash Behram in the world. Non Parsis can only admire the building from outside as holy temple restricts entry only to Parsis.
Moving back to Kalbadevi road, Another building which has an imposing entrance is "Bhiwandiwala Terrace". The building was an enclave of Bohri muslims who were mainly traders and businessman.
Walking further on Kalbadevi road, my next stop was at building which was a den of art and addiction: Bhangwadi. The name literally translates into the dwelling of Bhang. Those days of 18th and 19th century when opium trading was legal and many Parsis and Gujaratis ran successful business of Opium exports to China. Soon few enterprising Gujarati's started shops here which would sell Bhang preparations. But apart from these businesses, there also flourished a Gujarati theatre where plays and musical shows would be performed on the stage.
Today what remains is the four storeyed building structure with arches, columns and an imposing entrance with its famous elephant carved in the middle of the facade. The building had its heydays and today stands in the shadow of its former glory.
Next stop is the Halai Bhatia Mahajanwady, It is over 150 years old Bhatia community organisation building where the "Mahajan" - the community trust objects are to work towards upliftment of Bhatia community people. Medical charities, educational loans, economic help to needy people of the community are some of its goals.
My next stop is the temple of goddess Kalbadevi which has lent the name to the area. The story of the temple is quiet interesting. It goes that the shrine was located in the island of Mahim and was moved here during the rule of Gujarat sultanate and hidden for 500 years. When found later, temple was built here. In the beginning of 19th century, it was decided to widen the Kalbadevi road to lay the tram line but the temple occupied major portion of the land and it was under ownership of one Raghunath Joshi. The government decided to relocate the temple and all expenses was born by the government and management handed over to Mr. Joshi after relocation.
The temple has two deepstambh on each side of the entrance painted in bright colours today. Goddess Kalbadevi is said to be one of the prime goddess of Mumbai.
Moving further from the temple, Next stop is the temple which has the most beautiful external facade of any building in the neighbourhood. It is the Dwarkadhish temple - the oldest temple dedicated to Lord Krishna in South Mumbai. The temple is said to be a replica of original Dwarkadheesh temple located in city of Dwarka in Gujarat.It was built in 1875 by Sunderdas Jetha who was son of Mulji Jetha - A hindu merchant who also built the wholesale cloth market in the neighbourhood. The story goes that Seth Mulji had a dream that idol of Lord Krishna is hidden in the house and it had to be found. He being a ardent devotee of Krishna searched and found it hidden in a box under the staircase. That was when he decided to dedicate a haveli to Lord Dwarkadheesh.
Another interesting tale associated with this temple is that on its northern exterior facade has a row of monkeys in different poses which prompted Britishers to dub this temple as "Monkey temple".
The temple has stucco art with terracota in its architecture with wooden sculptures in the interior walls of the prayer hall. External facade has sculptures of saints in different poses.
The entrance has two dwarpal's in traditional attire while at the top of the entrance has Ganesha with his two consorts seen wearing traditional sarees. There are two angels shown at the entrance who have the crown of Queen Victoria.
The interior of the temple has huge assembly hall with pillars which has stucco art design, Each pillar is adorned with an angel playing different musical instruments and wearing a saree. The angels have a crown on their head which showcases the impact of Christian influence on Hindu architecture. There are chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The sanctum exterior wall is painted in bright colors and has Krishna with his consort Gopis in their leelas. Photography is not allowed inside the temple but it is worth visiting the temple from inside and admiring the beauty of the place.
The temple does not remain open throughout the day, The deity darshan happens 6-7 times in a day as per tradition followed in all Shrinathji temples and Havelis.
The temple in the next building played a important role in the Indian freedom struggle, The Ram wadi Ram temple. The story goes that Three Chapekar bros who were resident of Kamat chawl in Thakurdwar were kirtankars of this temple. During the time of bubonic plague epidemic of 1896, local population of Pune went through lot of atrocities in hands of Police as emergency was applied in the city. The Chapekar bros quietly left for Pune, shot the British plaque commissioner WC Rand and his military escort Lt Ayerst. After assassination they returned and seeked refuge in the temple and even participated in the kirtan. They were caught and eventually hanged to death.
The temple has a deepstambh at the entrance while the interior of the temple is made in Maratha style of architecture. Extensive use of wood is seen in the temple. The temple has multiple smaller shrines apart from the shrine of principal deity of Lord Ram, Laxman and Sita. The history of the temple in India's liberation movement is proudly showcased on its walls.
Across Ram wadi is Swadeshi cloth market. It is one of the oldest cloth market in the city and was known as Gokuldas Morarji Market, named after the merchant who built it in 1909. The market became a hub of revolutionary activities during Swadeshi movement by promoting the use of Khadi and hence the name was changed to Swadeshi market. The bust of Gokuldas Morarji can be seen on the exterior facade of the entrance.
My last stop in the heritage walk was at Javer Baug, It houses the 100 years old Nar Narayan temple. It is one of the few temples in the world which has Arjuna as "Nar" and Lord Krishna "Narayana" as principal deity in the sanctum. It was built by philanthropist Seth Manmohandas in accordance with his fathers last wish. The temple was the first in the neighborhood to allow people from lower caste to enter and worship at the temple which was a significant step of the time.
Descendants of the owner still manage the temple trust. Intricate carving and temple interiors are worth admiring. The temple also has only 6 darshans in a day and since I was not in sync with temple timings, couldn't visit the temple but will certainly visit the temple soon and update the blog with pictures and more descriptions.
This brings an end to my heritage walk in Kalbadevi area but this is not the end of it. There is lot more heritage to be explored in the cross roads and in nearby neighborhood which I plan to cover in coming days. My suggestion to anyone doing this walk would be to go on a Sunday morning or in evening as the area is more peaceful as compared to other days in the week when the markets are open.
With increase in real estate prices in late 19th century, More and more people opted to sell their houses and move in Northern suburbs of Mumbai but even today there still exist pockets of residential areas in cross lanes and in nearby neighbourhoods. Kalbadevi road stretches from opposite Metro talkies to Bhuleshwar area, A straight road is today more of commercial business district then residential locality but being an old neighbourhood, it has some interesting heritage in its belly which I decided to explore on a Sunday morning starting from Metro Talkies and highlight.
Metro talkies or Metro Cinema as it was called earlier is an art deco heritage grade-2 building. It was originally built and run by MGM - the Hollywood studio giant in 1938. It was meant for people from upper section of the society and only showed movies produced by MGM. It hosted the first filmfare awards night in 1955. It was only in 1970 when it was taken over by Gupta family that it started showing the glitzy Bollywood movies. In its heydays it was favorite place for Bollywood's red carpet film premier.
Just opposite Metro talkies lies two buildings on either side of the road, one of them is newly painted Victorian era building which is one of the budget library and bibliophile's paradise called Peoples Free Reading Library. It has been in existence since 1845 and was renamed in 1891. It was built by Gujarati merchant Damodar Gordhandas Sookhadwala.
Next to the library on Kalbadevi road lies a piece of heritage that is often easily missed. It is Shri Cowasji Jehangir fountain which was presented in 1865. It is defunct fountain today yet someone had put a vermilion tilak on it.
At the other end of the Kalbadevi road entrance is Mumbai's famous landmark and one of the oldest Parsi cafes - Kyani & Co, Founded in 1904 by Mr Khodram Marezaban, It was taken over by one Aflatoon Shokri in 1957 and today is run by his son Farokh Shokri. It is the quintessential Parsi cafe with rustic chairs around the round table, wooden shelves and large glass pained walls. The eatery rich in history, oozing old world charm and its delicious culinary offerings is one of the most well known among Parsi cafes.
The building which houses Parsi cafe is also a heritage site - Jer Mahal, Built in 18th century, It is the oldest residential building in the area and marked Indianisation of architecture which was known as "Vernacular style of architecture". Looking at the dilapidated state the apartment is in today, No one would believe that it had stained glass windows and was meant for rich locals.
Today the building houses something more interesting, The Goa in its rooms known as "Goan Kudds"- Kudds are unique rental system that has been in existence since last 150 years, It is a dormitory style clubs where catholic migrants from Goan village can stay at fraction of hotel room price. Each Goan village had its own kudds reserved for its residents.
Opposite to Kyani cafe lies another Parsi cafe which is now closed. Bastani & Co along with Kyani cafe were once known as "adda" for old Parsis, students from St Xavier's college and lawyers of small cause court. The building above the cafe still has some windows with stained glasses.
One important heritage which lies next Jer Mahal at Takwadi is the single screen theatre known as "Edward Theatre". Opened in 1914 it was named after King Edward V who visited Mumbai in the same year. The art deco building initially started out by staging plays. The theatre moved to showing movies and was meant to be for locals while Metro cinema was meant for upper class sections of the society.
The theatre was leased from its original owners who migrated to Pakistan post partition by Bejan Bharucha and his German wife Gertrude Bharucha. After Bejan's death in 1984, His wife took over the running of the hall. Today Poonawala family are the owners of this single screen theatre.
Another interesting trivia about this place is "First class" tickets were not sold to ladies because it was top tier furthest from the screen and had steps in the section which were very high. The reason was the ladies were sarees and dupattas and in darkness, there was a possibility of nasty fall.
There is something very unique to this theatre is its "Time ball" on top of the building. It was a time signalling device that consist of painted wooden or metal ball that would enable navigators aboard ships to verify the settings of their marine chronometers.
Before moving further on Kalbadevi road, Another beautiful not to be missed building is Atash Behram or Parsi fire temple in the vicinity. The imposing front entrance with huge pillars to the Parsi Fire temple is known as "Anjuman Parsee Fire temple"- Built in 1897 it is one of the only nine Atash Behram in the world. Non Parsis can only admire the building from outside as holy temple restricts entry only to Parsis.
Moving back to Kalbadevi road, Another building which has an imposing entrance is "Bhiwandiwala Terrace". The building was an enclave of Bohri muslims who were mainly traders and businessman.
Walking further on Kalbadevi road, my next stop was at building which was a den of art and addiction: Bhangwadi. The name literally translates into the dwelling of Bhang. Those days of 18th and 19th century when opium trading was legal and many Parsis and Gujaratis ran successful business of Opium exports to China. Soon few enterprising Gujarati's started shops here which would sell Bhang preparations. But apart from these businesses, there also flourished a Gujarati theatre where plays and musical shows would be performed on the stage.
Next stop is the Halai Bhatia Mahajanwady, It is over 150 years old Bhatia community organisation building where the "Mahajan" - the community trust objects are to work towards upliftment of Bhatia community people. Medical charities, educational loans, economic help to needy people of the community are some of its goals.
My next stop is the temple of goddess Kalbadevi which has lent the name to the area. The story of the temple is quiet interesting. It goes that the shrine was located in the island of Mahim and was moved here during the rule of Gujarat sultanate and hidden for 500 years. When found later, temple was built here. In the beginning of 19th century, it was decided to widen the Kalbadevi road to lay the tram line but the temple occupied major portion of the land and it was under ownership of one Raghunath Joshi. The government decided to relocate the temple and all expenses was born by the government and management handed over to Mr. Joshi after relocation.
The temple has two deepstambh on each side of the entrance painted in bright colours today. Goddess Kalbadevi is said to be one of the prime goddess of Mumbai.
Moving further from the temple, Next stop is the temple which has the most beautiful external facade of any building in the neighbourhood. It is the Dwarkadhish temple - the oldest temple dedicated to Lord Krishna in South Mumbai. The temple is said to be a replica of original Dwarkadheesh temple located in city of Dwarka in Gujarat.It was built in 1875 by Sunderdas Jetha who was son of Mulji Jetha - A hindu merchant who also built the wholesale cloth market in the neighbourhood. The story goes that Seth Mulji had a dream that idol of Lord Krishna is hidden in the house and it had to be found. He being a ardent devotee of Krishna searched and found it hidden in a box under the staircase. That was when he decided to dedicate a haveli to Lord Dwarkadheesh.
Another interesting tale associated with this temple is that on its northern exterior facade has a row of monkeys in different poses which prompted Britishers to dub this temple as "Monkey temple".
The temple has stucco art with terracota in its architecture with wooden sculptures in the interior walls of the prayer hall. External facade has sculptures of saints in different poses.
The temple does not remain open throughout the day, The deity darshan happens 6-7 times in a day as per tradition followed in all Shrinathji temples and Havelis.
The temple in the next building played a important role in the Indian freedom struggle, The Ram wadi Ram temple. The story goes that Three Chapekar bros who were resident of Kamat chawl in Thakurdwar were kirtankars of this temple. During the time of bubonic plague epidemic of 1896, local population of Pune went through lot of atrocities in hands of Police as emergency was applied in the city. The Chapekar bros quietly left for Pune, shot the British plaque commissioner WC Rand and his military escort Lt Ayerst. After assassination they returned and seeked refuge in the temple and even participated in the kirtan. They were caught and eventually hanged to death.
The temple has a deepstambh at the entrance while the interior of the temple is made in Maratha style of architecture. Extensive use of wood is seen in the temple. The temple has multiple smaller shrines apart from the shrine of principal deity of Lord Ram, Laxman and Sita. The history of the temple in India's liberation movement is proudly showcased on its walls.
Across Ram wadi is Swadeshi cloth market. It is one of the oldest cloth market in the city and was known as Gokuldas Morarji Market, named after the merchant who built it in 1909. The market became a hub of revolutionary activities during Swadeshi movement by promoting the use of Khadi and hence the name was changed to Swadeshi market. The bust of Gokuldas Morarji can be seen on the exterior facade of the entrance.
My last stop in the heritage walk was at Javer Baug, It houses the 100 years old Nar Narayan temple. It is one of the few temples in the world which has Arjuna as "Nar" and Lord Krishna "Narayana" as principal deity in the sanctum. It was built by philanthropist Seth Manmohandas in accordance with his fathers last wish. The temple was the first in the neighborhood to allow people from lower caste to enter and worship at the temple which was a significant step of the time.
Descendants of the owner still manage the temple trust. Intricate carving and temple interiors are worth admiring. The temple also has only 6 darshans in a day and since I was not in sync with temple timings, couldn't visit the temple but will certainly visit the temple soon and update the blog with pictures and more descriptions.
This brings an end to my heritage walk in Kalbadevi area but this is not the end of it. There is lot more heritage to be explored in the cross roads and in nearby neighborhood which I plan to cover in coming days. My suggestion to anyone doing this walk would be to go on a Sunday morning or in evening as the area is more peaceful as compared to other days in the week when the markets are open.
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