My Heritage Chronicles

Apart from the rich history that is attached to the formation of India and its legend, Mumbai has a unique chapter and can make historian's minds heavy. Mumbai's culture act as pure palimpsest and is a complete meal for anyone suffering from a deficiency in history lessons. The numerous forts scattered around the city are a testimony for the same. It comes as surprise to many that there were in total 11 forts in the city. Sitting on the urban fringe of Thane city and on a hill just south of Ulhas river and overlooking the natural creek on its west side, Ghodbunder fort is one of the forts and Mumbai's 16th-century marvelous piece of architecture. The humble Ghodbunder road, the state highway that connects Thane with the northern suburbs of Mumbai today once acted as a bridge between different cultures. The significance of this place was such that it is said to have played a crucial role in Indo- Arab trade which the Portuguese later used to monopolize sea routes in the Arab...

Standing on the fringes of Aarey forest, lies Marol village, a mid point between the western and central suburbs of Mumbai. Today it may have lost its sheen but it has been in existence from more than 1500 years and was once an important trading center along with Kondivita (Mahakali caves area) and Prajapur area inside Aarey. This surely would raise many eyebrows !!  Archaeologist have confirmed that Marol indeed was an important trading center along with Kondivita (Mahakali caves area) and Prajapur (now a slum in Aarey). Trade would happen with various ports of that era namely Mahim, Sopara etc and one theory goes that there would gave existed land routes from pre historic ports to these towns located on mainland. Another theory is that trading may have also happened via Mithi river which is today not more than a sewage, but was once an important river which flowed close to Marol and discharged into Mahim creek. These rivers were trading channels with boats moving from the ports i...

"Berewlee" known during British Era is one of  the suburban station that we know today as Borivali, One of the most affluent suburb in Mumbai. The name comes from bushes of "bor" (sweet berries) which were found in abundance here hence it was called the "Land of sweet berries (ber)". Once situated between two rivers - Poisur river on the south and Dahisar river on the north. The suburb of Borivali was a congregation of small villages or gaonthan's with huge wadi's having lots of Mango and Chickoo trees. The 8th century Mandapeshwar rock cut caves as well as the 1st century to 10th century built group of caves known as Kanheri in the deep forest of Sanjay Gandhi National park stands testament and speaks highly of the rich history of the place.   Eksar, Poisur, Vazira, Babhai, Shimpoli, Mandapeshwar, Kanheri, Tulsi, Magathane, Gorai, Culvem were few villages or hamlets which today collectively have become suburb of Borivali. Apart from these bigger v...