A peep into coastal village surrounded by sea and Urban city - Worli Koliwada
Worli is today a plush and most sort after locality of Mumbai city overlooking the Arabian sea but move back to 1661 and it was one of the seven islands of Bombay which were ceded by Portuguese to British as part of the dowry given in the marriage of Catherine of Braganza to King Charles II. It was linked up with other islands of Bombay in 19th century. Sitting at the northern tip of Worli lies a urban village or a gaothan with rich historical and cultural significance. It is the village of Koli or fishing community who were the original inhabitants of Bombay - The Worli Koliwada. The name Worli or "Varli" has three derivations, one it comes from the Marathi word "Vad" meaning Banyan tree which were found in abundant in the forest on the hills on Worli island and the "alli" means alley or village. Thus the two local words combined together forms "Vad-alli" or Varli which became Worli. The second derivation is "var" or a