The Mausoleums of Sassoon family and Jewish cemetery in Chinchpokli

It is hard to imagine any Jewish landmark in Mumbai and Pune which doesn't have Sassoon family connections. David Sassoon - A Baghdadi Jew was treasurer of Baghdad when he had to flee his city from the persecution of the ruler of Baghdad - Daud Pasha. He arrived in Bombay in 1832 and over a period of time became a wealthy businessman trading in cloth, jute, and opium. He and his family have been instrumental in building synagogues in Mumbai and Pune as well as many prominent buildings like David Sassoon library, Masina hospital, Sassoon docks, Bank of India building in Fort area of Mumbai as well Sassoon hospital, Lady Rachel Sassoon dispensary in Pune to name a few.


Counted in one of the old areas of Mumbai - Chinchpokli, It lies on the central railway line of Mumbai local trains. While traveling by train one can notice some monuments as soon as trains cross the Chinchpokli station. These are the mausoleums of the Sassoon family in a Jewish cemetery. This cemetery was built by the son of David Sassoon, Sir Elias David Sassoon in 1878 to cater to the needs of the Baghdadi Jews community in memory of his son Joseph who died in Shanghai - China in 1860. A plaque indicating the same lies on the entrance of the cemetery.



The Jews cemetery has three Victorian-style mausoleums in the middle of the graveyard which also has a few Chafa (Frangipani) trees amidst these dead grounds. Two identical structures are matching mausoleums, one-storied high, and have marble sarcophagus with Hebrew inscriptions and a beautifully carved cupola. These mausoleums are the resting place of Sir Jacob Sassoon and his wife Lady Rachael. 





Yet another mausoleum which is a standalone structure is situated a little distance from the two identical ones is the resting place of Sir Albert Sassoon.



Spread over two acres, The cemetery has over 1000 graves and finds mention in the BMC heritage list. What is even more striking is here also lies buried graves of Jews who couldn't escape the ovens of Nazi-occupied death camps of Auschwitz and other concentration camps. The graves or memorials were erected by relatives of Holocaust victims. India's first Miss India, Pamela Abraham who was also an actress and film producer in Bollywood gets a mention in the tablet dedicated to Abraham's family here.


Today the burial ground may have been taken over by the weeds growing everywhere, the walls of the cemetery lost their paint and alone caretaker sweeping the ground and taking care of the final resting place of the Jews in the dull and sleepy neighborhood but their legacy lives forever.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shankaracharya samadhi temple at ancient holy place of Nirmal village

Image
As per the Holy edicts of Skanda Purana as well as Padma Purana, ancient region of Shuraparaka was established by Lord Parshuram who is sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu. Parshuram's name has been associated with lot of legends in and around Vasai. There is a kund or water cistern deep in forest of Tungareshwar which is called Parshuram Kund. The temple of Tungareshwar has association with Parshuram so does the ancient holy teerth of Nirmal village. The twin lakes in Nirmal village is suppose to be creation of Lord Parshuram.  It is said that Adi Shankaracharya had visited Nirmal in BC 497 to revive Vedic dharma which was on wane with the spread of Buddhism. It is said that 5th Shankaracharya of Puri - Swami Vidyaranya visited Nirmal at the behest of King Jalauk of Kalinga. He took Mahasamadhi at Nirmal hillock in 404 BC on dark 11th day of Kartik. Emperor Jalauk was the first to built a samadhi temple here. There are also records of many Shankaracharya having visited this place. 
Read more

Discovering the lesser known heritage secrets of Byculla neighbourhood

Image
Byculla in the 19th century was part of textile mills belt of Bombay, It is said that there were in total 136 mills operating in areas of Parel, Lalbaug, Byculla, Prabhadevi, Chinchpokli etc which collectively was known as "Girangaon" meaning "Village of mills". By 1982 the textile mills had started to struggle and with the famous "Greater Bombay textile strike" which lasted for 18 months,by which time most of these mills had closed down. Byculla with its neighbourhood of Nagpada, Agripada, Chinchpokli, Kamathipura and the Mazgaon docks became known for its underworld activities. Today there are no strikes, underworld activities at its near zero and what we see now are the high rise building towers. But within all this there is another side of Byculla - the 18th century Byculla . Byculla came into existence as an extension of Mazgaon - one of the seven islands of Bombay. The low lying flat land which used to be flooded during high tide was made inha
Read more

Golfa Devi: A unqiue speaking goddess of Worli village in Mumbai.

Image
Close to Worli village bus depot and next to Indian coast guard western region headquarters lies a small discreet lane going uphill which ultimately leads us to sea. The tiny lane has small colourful houses belonging to Koli fishermen community, the original inhabitants of Worli village. The lane is called Golfa devi Marg, And as one walks on the inclined road inwards, amidst the houses and shops lies a very simple temple with a large verandah in front of it. This is Worli Koliwada village's best kept secret. The temple of  "GolfaDevi" The temple and the goddess is central to Koli fishing community, So much is the faith of these local folks in the Goddess that they do not start any task before seeking permission, be it venturing into the sea to catch fish or marriage or starting something new or even before travelling.  The temple priest Sadanand Worlikar whose family has been taking care of the temple for generations is ever happy to narrate the legends
Read more