My Heritage Chronicles

Mumbai the mega metropolitan city was once a group of seven islands is something that we all know about. The seven islands which constitute Mumbai were home to communities of fishing villages and little hamlets scattered all over. They are chapters of a glorious history that endowed us with such rich heritage and architecture. Mazgaon or Mazagon - part of South Mumbai is one of the oldest suburbs of Mumbai. The original inhabitants were Agari (salt workers) & Koli (fisherman) tribes. Mazgaon has a rich history. It influenced several communities which makes it even more interesting. In heart of this sprawling suburb of Mumbai lies this quaint village called Matharpacady or Mathar-Pakhadi which was originally a colony of East Indian Catholics but over a period of time came to include many Goan and other families. The village is self contained with artistic wrought iron and wood bungalows, art decor, sprawling porches, verandas and altars. It boast of some of the city's old...

Mumbai Heritage series of posts is to highlight some unique heritage structures in & around our city of Mumbai where we may have knowledge of their presence but are not aware of their importance or unique facts or history behind them. By highlighting the facts & history we could bring more pride & awareness towards preserving these unique jewels we have in our city of Mumbai. Ghodapdeo: A predominantly labour class neighbourhood nestled between Cotton green, Reay Road, Mustafa bazaar & Kalachowky areas. This area was known for its cloth mills but post 1990 after the era of liberalisation the mills were shut down and today the area slowly is giving away to redevelopment of chawls and  making way for high rises. This area is located just behind the famous Victoria gardens or also known as Rani baugh or Mumbai Zoo. Nestled in this neighbourhood is one unique temple of God Ghodapdeo. The area gets its name from this temple.The locals worship it as temple of Ha...

Even though I was born and bought up in Borivali, As a child Nalasopara was always a far away suburb on western railway after Borivali and I don't remember ever visiting it. Over the years kept reading about real estate activities booming first in Mira- Bhayander area and then in Vasai - Nalasopara - Virar belt. Then few years back, read interesting stories about Buddhist stupa being found during excavation and it was a historical site also the fact that it was called SOPARA and was a flourishing port in ancient times. All this reading and listening, aroused curiosity about the place but never had chance to visit until last Sunday. Just a casual talk with Dr Ajay and we decided to visit few attractions in Nalasopara. It was my first visit and today while writing this blog, I am still at awe at what a truly magnificent place it is which I had missed for so many years !!!  History of Nalasopara : Known by different names Sopara , Soparaka , Shurparaka . It was largest township on In...

Monsoon was in its end of season mood with rains coming for few hours in a day or at times it was complete dry spell of heat. Taking into consideration the variance in temperature, Dr Ajay suggested that we do some offbeat treks and not go for pure treks. It was finalized that we go for small trek to Korlai fort and lighthouse near Alibaug. It was interesting and I decided to join them. As I had been to Kanhoji Angre lighthouse near Alibaug and this was going to be my 2nd lighthouse visit. It was going to be on Sunday - Oct 13th and meeting place was decided at Churchgate station at 7 am. Korlai fort history : Korlai also called Castle Curlew or EL moro is a Portuguese fort in village of Korlai. It was built on the island of Moro de Chaul which guards the way to Revdanda creek. This strategic position of fort helped Portuguese defend their interest from Korlai to Bassein. This fort was built in 1521 under the permission from Sultanate of Ahmednagar. The fort moved from hands of Portugu...