Hidden Mumbai Part 2

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
T
his book would not have been possible
without the help and support of so many
people…
Thanks to Rohan Sharma for the chapters
on Chembur and Rotten Row. Rohan is a
corporate communications professional who is
one of KHAKI Tours’ Ambassadors of Mumbai.
He is passionate
about introducing
people to not
just the core of
Mumbai city,
but also to the
‘suburban riches’
of neighbourhoods
like Chembur,
which aren’t usually mentioned in the same
breath as history walks. He was also kind
enough to show me few additional things at
the end of the Chembur walk, to make this
chapter more interesting. He also carefully
went through the manuscript of these two
chapters and suggested several changes and
improvements. Thanks Rohan!
Thanks to Harsh of No Footprints Explore, who
led the tour on Lalbaug which I participated
in. The working farm in the middle of Lalbaug
was amazing.
Thanks to Kaevan for taking us around
Chuim village tour of Khaki tours and sharing
interesting tidbits about the local history and
culture
The Internet in general and Wikipedia in
particular of course are very useful. I also
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filled in the gaps in my knowledge from the
website www.artdecomumbai - it has a lot
more information on this subject, if you are
interested.
Thanks to Qumrunnahar Sarkar Koli for the
book design, White Falcon Publishing for the
printing and wife Rita for giving me company
on the tours and helping with manuscript.
Finally a big shout-out to Nikhil Mahashur, a
Mumbai-based Architect and Restorator at
the helm of NMA
(Nikhil Mahashur
& Associates),
his eponymous
architectural
practice delivering
exemplary
projects across
Architecture,
Renovation, Interiors and PMC. Nikhil also runs
Walkitecture, a passion project he started five
years ago, that explores South Bombay’s iconic
architecture through immersive walking tours.
He runs it for architectural students, friends
and family and I was lucky that he opened it
up to the general public, so that me and Rita
could attend. We were amazed at the history
of Marine Drive, that we did not know about,
even though we must have driven up and
down a thousand times. We can now recognize
Art Deco buildings!
Nikhil also took the trouble of painstakingly
going through the manuscript of Marine Drive
and made several corrections and suggested
additions and
changes. The errors
that remain, if any,
are purely mine.
Peter Theobald
February 2022
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On 1 September 1668, the ship named ‘Constantinople
Merchant’ touched the coast of Surat. It had brought a
copy of the Royal Charter of March 27th 1668, through
which the Port and Island of Bombay had been given to the
English East India Company “to be held in free and common
soccage, as of the Manor of East Greenwich,” at a rent of 10
Pounds per annum, payable on the 30th September each year.
Thus began the story of the establishment of the city of Bombay
, which is presently the financial capital of India and is one of
the country’s largest metropolises.
What the East India Company had come into possession
were seven islands, named Bombay, Mazagaon, Parel, Worli,
Mahim, Little Colaba or the Old Woman’s Island, and Colaba.
The landscape of these islands varied from low hills, tidal
flats, mangrove forests, and salt pans. There were three great
breaches or inlets through which the seawater gushed in
during the high tide in the space between the islands. These were
(1) The great breach, known as Breach Candy, between the island of Bombay (the Malabar Hill) and the island of
Worli. (the word ‘Candy’ was derived from the Marathi word ‘Khind’ which means a break in the rock ridge)
(2) The breach between Worli and Mahim,
(3) The one between Mahim and Parel.
When the water receded, it left behind swamps of salty water. While it was possible to cross over from Bombay
to Mazagaon during low tides as the sea was very shallow in that area, the gap between other islands was
navigated by boats.
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The Company had encouraged immigration to
Bombay to develop its population base. This,
in turn, led to the need for space for housing
and agriculture. Such space could only be created
by draining and reclaiming land. However, this was
only possible once the breaches from which seawater
entered could be closed. Also, there were a large
number of deaths that occurred in Bombay, and the
average life of an Englishman was found to be only
three years. The major reason was the disease of
malaria, which was caused due to the presence of
saltwater swamps left behind by the receding tides.
Thus it became imperative to close the water inlets,
drain the swamps and reclaim land from the sea.
The cumulative effect of these measures was the
joining of the seven islands and the emergence of
an island city.
The last of the islands to be joined were the
Colaba and the Little Colaba. In 1796, the island
of Colaba had been declared as a cantonment
area, and people used boats to go there, which were often overcrowded, leading to accidents. The Bombay
Council suggested the construction of a causeway and persuaded the Directors to agree to it by stating the
advantages that would accrue.The construction was completed in 1838 and both the islands were joined to
Bombay by the Colaba Causeway.
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The Great India Peninsula Railway was inaugurated in 1853, starting with a route from Bori Bunder (the
predecessor of VT/CSMT) to Thane. The second railway line to cover the city came two years later, (albeit
starting in the present-day Gujarat) and was called the Bombay, Baroda and Central Railway (BBC&I). Originally
terminating at Grant Road, it eventually went all the way to present-day Badhwar Park, which was then the city’s
Cotton Green.
The BBC&I headquarters (currently serving the Western Railway, is the brainchild of eminent architect FW
Stevens, assisted by his son Charles. Like with many other public structures in late 19th century Mumbai, it
contributed to creating a slice of London in the tropics. Stevens was also responsible for the VT station building
and the BMC head office, and the visual similarities between the latter and the BB&CI building are evident .
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Note the train in the right arm
and cog wheel in left of the lady,
as well as the cherubic angels on
each side
On the façade of tbe building you can see Clonel Patrick T
French, British founder chairman of the BB&CI Railway and
British railway engineer Colonel John Pitt Kennedy. French and
Kennedy Bridge owe their names to these gentlemen. At a cost
of 24000 pounds per mile, the BB&CI route was one of the most
expensive lines to be constructed at the time.
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The adjoining dome
“Note the coat of arms of the BB&CI and
the interlocking, stylised letters BBCI
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Initially, the road from Churchgate to Flora Fountain was
lined with statues of Englishmen like Lord Reay and
Sandhurst. Now in the decades after independence,
they have been replaced with statues of prominent Indian
personalities. Not that I noticed, but these are the giants on
whose shoulders we stand today.
Sir Dinshaw Waccha, a Parsi politician from Bombay
was one of the founding members of the Indian National
Congress and also of the Bombay Municipal Corporation.
Waccha was a prolific writer and was foremost in
educating the people and creating an enlightened
public opinion on the political and economic issues that
faced the country. He criticized economic irregularity
and misuse of finance. He was known as one of the
custodians and watchdogs of the country’s finance. He
was the author of books such as, “Shells from the sands
of Bombay” and “Rise and growth of Bombay municipal
government”
Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade. Note his use of the
traditional Pagdi with the English Judge’s robe. The
statue of Lord Sandhurst originally stood here (now at
BDL Museum, Byculla). He was an Indian scholar, social
reformer, judge and author and one of the founding
members of the Indian National Congress and founder of
“Prathana Samaj”.
A champion of human rights especially women’s rights,
he campaigned against the ‘purdah’ system, child
marriage, the tonsure of Brahmin widows, and the heavy
cost of weddings and other social functions, the caste
restrictions on traveling abroad, and he strenuously
advocated widow remarriage and female education.
Ranade ensured that his wife received a high education,
something about which she herself was initially not keen.
However, like all Indian women of that era, she complied
with her husband’s wishes and grew into her new life.
Indeed, after Ranade’s death, Ramabai Ranade continued
the social and educational reform work initiated by him.
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Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Was an Indian liberal political leader and
a social reformer during the Indian independence movement. A
protégé of Justince Ranade, Gokhale was a senior leader of the
Indian National Congress and the founder of the Servants of India Society
(SIS). In his preamble to the SIS’s constitution, Gokhale wrote that “The
Servants of India Society will train men prepared to devote their lives to
the cause of country in a religious spirit, and will seek to promote, by all
constitutional means, the national interests of the Indian people. The
Society took up the cause of promoting Indian education in earnest, and
among its many projects organised mobile libraries, founded schools,
and provided night classes for factory workers. For Gokhale, true political
change in India would only be possible when a new generation of Indians
became educated as to their civil and patriotic duty to their country and
to each other.
Sir Hormusjee Cowasjee Dinshaw was a Captain of Industry he was
Director of several mills and a prominent philanthropist. staunchly
religious man, he was a Parsi Zarathushtrian with firm faith in Parsi
traditions and customs and founded the Parsi Panchayat. He was
credited as a citizen of Aden and Bombay - Aden was a part of
Bombay Presidency in those days. He was instrumental in airlifting
the fire in the Agiary in Aden, after the communists took over in that
country. It now burns at the Bhikaji Behram Well.
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Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy was an Indian-Parsi
merchant and philanthropist. He made a huge
fortune in cotton and the opium trade with
China. By the age of 40, he had made over two crore
rupees, a staggering sum in those days. Jejeebhoy was
known by the nickname “Mr. Bottlewalla”. “Walla” meant
“vendor”, and Jejeebhoy’s business interests included
the manufacture and sale of bottles. Jejeebhoy and
his family would often sign letters and cheques using
the name “Battliwala”, and were known by that name
in business and society. He had Hindu, Muslim and
Catholic partners and famously threw the first ice cream
party of India (ice brought all the way from Boston,
USA by Ship, at astronomical cost). People fell ill after
eating the ice cream – they were not accustomed to
cold food!
An essentially self-made man, having experienced the
miseries of poverty in early life, Jejeebhoy developed
great sympathy for his poorer countrymen. Parsi and
Christian, Hindu and Muslim, were alike the objects of
his beneficence. Hospitals, schools, homes of charity
and pension funds throughout India were created or
endowed by Jejeebhoy, and he financed the construction
of many public works such as wells, reservoirs, bridges,
and causeways. By the time of his death in 1859, he was
estimated to have donated over £230,000 to charity. He
donated Rs. 1,00,000 to build Sir J. J. Hospital. He also
donated to at least 126 notable public charities, including
the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy School of Art, the Sir J. J.
College of Architecture the Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art
and the Seth R.J.J. High School, Bhau Daji Lad museum
Between 1822 and 1838, cattle from the congested fort area
used to graze freely at the Camp Maidan (now called Azad
Maidan), an open ground opposite the Victoria Terminus.
In 1838, the British rulers introduced a ‘grazing fee’
which several cattle-owners could not afford. Therefore,
Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy spent Rs. 20,000 from his own
purse for purchasing some grasslands near the seafront
at Thakurdwar and saw that the starving cattle grazed
without a fee in that area. In time the area became known
as “Charni” meaning grazing. When a railway station on
the BB&CI railway was constructed there it was called
Charni Road.
He spent Rs. 1,45,403 to set up the Sir J. J. Dharamshala
at Bellasis Road, and until today, innumerable old and
destitute people receive free food, clothing, shelter and
medicines there. All their needs for the past 150 years,
irrespective of caste, creed or religion, have been looked
after by the Dharamshala, the first free home for the
elderly in Asia.
Whether it was the famine of Ireland (1822), the floods
in France (1856) or the fire, which ravaged both Bombay
(1803) and Surat (1837), this beacon of altruism gave
graciously to one and all without discriminating on the
basis of caste or creed.
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The beautifully crafted Neo-Gothic building
of the Central Telegraph Office was designed
by two master architects – J. Trubshawe and
W. Paris. The construction of the building
was completed in December 1872. This
beautiful structure was Bombay’s General
Post Office (GPO) until 1913, when it officially
became the Central Telegraph Office. Today
it is used as an office complex by the Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL).
The CTO building and the PWD
building opposite were known as the
guardians of Mumbai
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The area outside the “Fort” of Mumbai was
called the Esplanade. People used to come
out of the fort for “Hawa Khana” (to enjoy
– or “eat” the wind. Hard to believe, but
this office area was once a place for evening
entertainment, with tent cities, summer
camps and windmills.
Eventually it gave rise to the Cross Maidan and Oval Maidan. Incidentally Oval comes from “ Organisation
for Verdant Air and Land”.
The building across the Telegraph office, originally meant to be the PWD building, was planned to be
in Yellow Kurla Stone but they ran out of money and had to settle for black Basalt. It fortunately now
matches with the black stone of the building to which it serves as an annexe, the Bombay High Court.
15

The Rajabai Clock Tower was designed
by Sir George Gilbert Scott, an English
architect. He modeled it on Big Ben
in London, a fusion of Venetian and Gothic
styles. It was 280 feet tall and the total cost
of construction was ₹555000, a portion of
which was donated by Premchand Roychand,
a prosperous broker who founded the
Bombay Stock Exchange on the condition
that the tower be named after his mother
Rajabai According to an urban legend,
Premchand Roychand’s mother was blind
and as a staunch follower of Jain religion, she
was supposed to consume her dinner before
evening. Legend says that the evening bell
of the tower helped her to know the time
without anyone’s help.
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On its façade, the tower had sculptures of people from the 24 different trading communities of western India.

The grand Convocation hall of the Bombay university also known as the Cowasji Jehangir
Convocation Hall, after the Parsi philanthropist Cowasji Jehangir Readymoney, who funded the
construction. You can see his statue in the lawns.
The circular stained glass window represents the sun and the 12 months the 12 signs of zodiac.
Inside are Minton tiles, Burma teak balconies, gold leaf gilding, and Victorian stained glass.
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At the base of the Rajabai Tower is the University’s Reading
Hall and Library.
The Gargoyles you can see ensure that storm water
doesn’t accumulate on the roof.. kind of drainage outlets!
20

The Old Secretariat Building (In which City Civil And
Sessions Court is housed) was designed and built
by architect Col. Henry St. Clair Wilkins and planner
Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere during 1865-74 in the
Venetian Gothic style.. Comprising of a tall tower
on a central staircase . The structure has arcaded
verandahs and some fine stone carvings. It is one
of the earliest buildings to use polycromatic stone
in its construction and its slim structure was used
to maximise cross ventilation.
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Adjacent is the first statue of Dr
Ambedkar. His statues hold the
world record of most number
dedicated to a single person.
Just after the secretariat is the statue of Sorabjee Shapurjee Bengalee –a Parsi journalist and philanthropist
and a member of the Legislative Council of Bombay, was among the few who sought improved conditions
for workers. He was also a pioneer in women’s hygiene and founder of the Parsi lying in hospital. Why was
it called a lying-in hospital? Well, a Parsi woman could lie or stay here for around a month after she gave birth,
meaning she could spend those 40 days of impurity in clean comfort. The rooms were well-lit and airy and trained
medical staff were always in attendance. The hospital was for all Parsi women. People paid according to their
capacity and those who were too poor for even that, received treatment and care for free.
22

Now we come to the Cooperage area. I went to school here for 7 years – Campion School,
on Cooperage Road, almost 40 years ago. It was only now that I learnt how it got its name.
Coopers were craftsmen who made wooden barrels for wine. The place where they stayed
and worked was called Cooperage!
The Cooperate area also hosts a wooden and wrought iron bandstand - the only one of its kind
remaining in the city, where bands used to play. It is built mostly in wood with a strong stone base.
There are octagonal posts on the periphery with decorative panel brackets and it is edged with a
minutely carved fascia board running all along.
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Finally we come to Rotten Row
300 years back in London, for the King to pass through safely, a road was created
through Hyde park road was created, linking White hall and Kensington palace.
It was well lit with 300 oil lamps. This also became a place for the who’s who to
ride. This was “Route du Roi” – or “Royal Row”. This was corrupted to Rotten Row.
In Mumbai, older photos of the Oval Maidan show a riding track demarcated along
the periphery. It’s a usage that may have survived into the 1950s going by the
accounts of historian, Deepak Rao. You could hire a horse for a ride around the
track and trainers from the nearby Wellington Mews (stables before its current
avatar) even taught riding here to amateur enthusiasts. So the latter part of our
walking route can be called our very own Rotten Row.
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It’s really funny, but Chembur, which is sometimes referred to these days as the “Gas Chamber” of Mumbai,
wasn’t quite so. In fact was quite the opposite.. it was called the “Garden Suburb” of Mumbai, and people
were invited to shift there from “Proper Bombay”
Before multiple reclamations, in maps as late as 1931, it is depicted as occupying the north-western part
corner of the island of Trombay. The name ‘Chembur’ is said to have evolved from the word ‘ Chimboree’
which translates to ‘large crab’ in Marathi. But it subsequently evolved into Chembur (or Chemboor, as per
colonial era maps). It came to be known as Chembur during the British era. (And Interestingly, neighbouring
Kurla owes its name to the Kurli (small crab)!)
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The Bombay City Improvement Trust (BIT)
was created on 9 December 1898, in
response to the Bombay plague epidemic
of 1896. The Municipal Corporation and the
government handed over all vacant lands to this
body. The CIT undertook a host of measures to
improve sanitary and living conditions in the city.
The planned opening up of suburbs to reduce
congestion in South Mumbai was due to the Trust.
Another organisation for the city’s
improvement and land reclamation that was
set up in subsequent decades is something
you might have also heard of – BDD. the The BDD
Chawls in Worli might ring a bell. I had too, but
did not know that “BDD” stands for “Bombay
Development Directorate.
It is interesting to know, that the Kurla-Mankhurd
harbour line was originally built to transport the
city’s refuse to the Devnar dumping ground. It
was called the Katchra Line. It was opened for
passenger traffic only in 1921 . Even the rail link
was tenuous with a steam engine plying after an
interval of an hour between Kurla and Mankhurd.
The breakdowns on this line were proverbial and
one had to foot it from Chembur to Kurla and back
on numerous occasions.
27

To quote Rohan Sharma of Khaki
Tours “Chembur essentially evolved
around a plan that authorities had
in the 1920s which was called the Garden
Suburbs Scheme. At that time they
picked up neighbourhoods that were not
very far away from the city centre and
still within commuting distance. Their
idea was while people are comfortable
in flats, you should also have suburbs
that resemble say the commuter towns
around London, where people can have
their own plots of land that have a lawn
or garage around it. Essentially more
country-style living while still being
close to the city”
The Bombay Catholic Welfare Association, which also coordinated the development of residential
neighbourhoods for the community, purchased more than 100 plots in Chembur , as its first foray into the
Eastern part of the suburban district. At the starting point of the walk, you can see ‘Belvedere’, the house
of the late Prof. Aloysius Soares, a pioneer of the Catholic colony in Chembur who, along with other early
residents, developed the neighbourhood to cater to all needs from the womb to the tomb. . Note his house
and the garden plot behind it.
28

The Bombay Catholic welfare
organization had registered a
society under the name of St.
Anthony’s Homes Co-operative
society in Chembur in 1925
when this suburb lacked
elementary amenities that were
fairly commonplace in the city.
However, the land was fairly
cheap-and provided a peaceful
refuge from the noise, bustle
and congestion of the city.
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Pioneer House,
still owned by the Nunes Family
The early residents bought a lot of land from the department and
divided it into four schemes providing for a residential area,
convent school and a spacious playground. Since a school was
the basic need, Mr. Soares and his group of followers decided to put up
a pavilion to be used as a school and a chapel. The pavilion was ready
in 1934.A couple of years earlier in 1932, Miss. F Nunes, daughter of Capt.
F. Nunes, a retired military doctor and pioneer settler in the colony , had
opened an English class at her residence with just four children. As the
number kept growing, Mr. Soares and his dedicated co-workers engaged a couple of rooms in the
Development hutments, and there she continued her class. When the pavilion was completed, the
school was transferred there. She carried on the burden of the school till April 1950, helped by local
teachers; two of whom were the daughters of Mr. Soares, Grace and Angela. The school proved to
be a boon to Chembur. It was open to all communities without any discrimination.
30

A church was essential to the “womb to tomb” vision,
but due to the number of other, more elemental
needs, it finally came up only in the late 1950s.
The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Latin:
Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris; CSsR) known as
the Redemptorists, is a religious congregation of the
Catholic Church, dedicated to missionary work.
They were invited to Chembur to help set up the church. . An Irish Priest, Fr Mangaen, took the lead and the
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour (OLPS) church was finally inaugurated in 1959, named after a 15th century
Byzantine religious icon featuring Mother Mary with baby Jesus, of which the Redemptorists have been the
custodians since the 19th century.
However, the Roman Catholic faith on Trombay island dates back 500 years to the Portuguese times, and
three churches from then still survive, two of them being active parishes.
31

Air Vents for the sewage line
Things were difficult in those early days. The railway connection was intermittent, the
roads were kaccha, Construction was only allowed on 25% of the plot. There was no
electricity (which apparently came in the 40s) or sewage pipelines (until the 50’s).
Still, they persevered in building the infrastructure. To better coordinate the efforts, the
catholic-owned plots came together to form the St. Anthony’s Homes Cooperative Society.
32

The school mentioned earlier had become insufficient by the 1940s. Chembur needed
a girl’s proper school, which could be co-educational for the lower classes, and girls’
only in the upper classes. The logic being that grown-up boys could more easily travel
to attend schools in Bombay than growing girls. Hence The foundation stone of St. Anthony
Girls’ High School was laid by Raja Maharaj Singh, Governor of Bombay, on January 29, 1951,
and Archbishop of Bombay, Mgr. Valerian Gracias, blessed it. On April 20, 1952 the new school
was inaugurated by the Mayor of Bombay, GN Desai. It was a spacious edifice with a beautiful
chapel and residential quarters for the nuns from the order of St. Joseph, who were invited
from the then Central Provinces to run the school.
33

34
After the OLPS Church
was inaugurated a decade
later, a second school in
the area, attached to it,
was inaugurated. This
became the OLPS boys’
school, while St. Anthony’s
became an exclusively
girls’ school.

Lovely Bungalow called NIna, home of Chris and Meher Dsouza. It was built by Nita Lourdes DSouza and Rock
NApoleon DSouza, Chris’s mother and father respectively and named after syllables from their names. At that
time, it was close to Land’s end, five minutes away from the salt water marshes of Thane creek. This section
was reclaimed subsequently for mass-housing projects. Now, the creek is thirty minutes away by car.
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Close to their home was a Fresh water
river – see the representational image –
but look at it now

One does not normally associate Art deco and Indo Saracenic
architecture to Chembur, but nonetheless, it exists. See the dome
and general facade of St. Joseph’s convent and you can see how
it’s art deco in construction style, but bears medieval Indian influences.
Atop an Islamic style dome is a lotus from which the cross emerges.
37

Chembur was a haven for bird life, due to the abundant
trees. Not just birdlife, but even wildlife – the last tiger of
Trombay was killed in 1909! And have a look at this road –
unlike others in Chembur which were planned (and straight)
– this one was winding because it was once a river!
38

While earlier catholic-owned bungalows have English or even French names, later ones
take inspiration from local languages following an “Indianisation” exercise by the Roman
Catholic Church in the 1960s. Names like Belvedere, The Harvest, Chez Nous, and Clem
Cot, gave way to Dev Chhaya, Dev Darshan, Japamala, and Shantiniketan. Even the church
until recently had a local language board saying “Nitya Sahayya Mata Mandir”.
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Graffiti of Chembur

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The Grotto…A Grade 2B Heritage structure, owned by a Doctor couple, has now been given to the parish.
Note the steps leading up to the house. This is to protect the homes from slush entering in the monsoons.
Both the Grotto and Belvedere were built in Vernacular Goan style. They are mainly ground storied
structures with covered verandahs, load bearing walls with inbuilt timber posts as frames, multilevel
sloping roofs clad with red tiles and the louvered windows and doors in wood with ventilators.
42

Belvedere, another Grade 2B Heritage
structure, home to the Soares family
is one of the original bungalows
of the bygone era .. then and now..
remarkably well preserved.
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Some of the homes are beautifully maintained

They have the charm of old Mangalorean bungalows.
45

Pioneer House
More well maintained bungalows
46

Beautiful old homes – some of them covered
with Bougainvillea - are falling into disrepair
since the owners cannot afford the heavy
maintenance bills.
47

The alternative is redevelopment.
At times the entire building is
demolished and replaced by a
skyscraper.. Or some attempt is
made to retain the old look on
the ground and first floor and the
skyscaper is built on top of it,
making it an odd amalgam of old
and new
48

The miraculous Picture of the Mother of
Perpetual Help is of Eastern Origin and
was brought from Crete to Rome at the
close of the 15th century. After the arrival
in Rome, extraordinary events took place.
One such event was an apparition of Our
Lady to a little girl. The Mother of God told
her favoured child that she wished to have
her picture exposed for veneration between
the Basilica of St. Mary Major and St. John
Lateran. Between these two Basilica stood
the Church of St. Matthew, served by the
Augustinian Fathers and in this Church the
Picture was enshrined over the High Altar.
There the sacred image was venerated for
3 centuries. In Rome, the title given to this
image was “The Mother of Perpetual Help”,
because the Blessed Virgin when giving the
message to the little child, said she was
‘Holy Mary of Perpetual Help.”
This is the origin of the name of “Our lady
of Perpetual Succour Church” (OLPS) in
Chembur.
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Beyond the Catholic colony, is the rest of the garden suburb area, which have a different visual and cultural
feel. Ambedkar Garden pictured here , was once called Sathe Circle

According to the
(unconfirmed)
recollections of an
octogenarian local
resident, Mr. Sathe was
a businessman and
alongside the garden,
he built three beautiful
bungalows for his wives,
complete with fountains.
Whatever be the story
of how they got built,
unfortunately they have
now fallen into disrepair.
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Another Beautiful building, Built in Art Deco style. More of this later in the section on Marine Drive!

53

Lalbaug owes its prominence to a rather faraway event – the American Civil War in 1861. This
caused the cotton picking to stop in the US, and the British wanted an alternate source of cotton
and mills to process it. Mumbai (Lalbaug to be precise) was the location of choice for the mills,
because of the close proximity to the port.
The city’s first textile mill, Bombay Spinning Mill, was set up by Cowasji Nanabhai Davar in 1854. In the
next few decades, dozens of mills came up in the stretch between Byculla and Dadar, going up to 83
in the 1920s. Lalbuag Parel, one of the original seven islands of Bombay was then called Girangaon,
the village of Girnis (textile mills)
Both men and women worked in the mills. They would start working there at a young age (some as
young as 16). 90% of the population who worked at the mills lived within a 15-minute walking distance
of them. Most of the buildings were chawls in Parel were one room occupied six or more people – at
times even twenty.. These chawls were built by both the government and the mill owners, but neither
paid much attention to the quality of the housing.
“There is a history of cosmopolitanism in Lalbaug,” says Neera Adarkar, architect and urban researcher.
“People who spoke different languages — Marathi, Konkani, Telugu, Urdu — lived next to each other,
as did people practising different religions.”
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Typical Chawls
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Very surprisingly, a few steps away from the crowded road of Lalbaug, exists a working, 2 acre farm , owned by
the Geria family, that is being cultivated even today.
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One story of how Lalbaug gets its name stems from the place
where the Parsi colony, Nowroz Baug stands today. Pestonji
Wadia, of the Wadia Shipbuilders had built himself a home,
identified by the striking red of its walls in 1800s. A posh home and
one of the first private residences to be illuminated by gaslights, it
helped distinguish the neighbourhood from Parel. Soon, not only
the mansion but also the surrounding area was being called Lal
Baug. However this Lal Baug was replaced by Nowroz Baug in 1908.
Between 1908 and 158, a total of 5 baugs or low cost housing
colonies, were built on over 35 acres housing 1500 flats in 646
buidlings for lower and middle class Parsis. These included Cusrow
Baug (14 acres) at Colaba, Rustom Baug (9.5 acres) and Jerrbai Baug
(2.7 acres) at Byculla, Ness Baug (2.7 acres) at Nana Chowk and
Nowroz Baug (5.5 acres).
These various baugs in Mumbai were constructed due to the
foresight and vision of a great Philanthropist and Baugs builder –
Bai Jerbai Naoroji Nusherwanji Wadia. (1852 – March 1926)
In 1907 Bai Jerbai’s husband, Naoroji Nusherwanji Wadia, suddenly died leaving her Rs. 9,00,000 in his will.
She realised her first opportunity to offer assistance to the needy of the community. Aware that tenants in
Bombay lived under the constant threat of being evicted from rental apartments at short notice & without
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a guaranteed security and a lack of low cost housing in Bombay, not
many families would venture to leave their secure homes in Gujarat to
come to a big city to better their lot.
Jerbai devised a strategy. She arranged for land to be purchased at
Lalbaug, specifically for the construction, initially of 8 low cost rental
apartment blocks for these early Parsis arriving from Gujarat.
She personally supervised the planning of the apartment buildings, a
sign of dedicated intent. She allotted apartments only to those needy
families, who could present a valid reason to justify leaving their timehonored
joint family homes in Gujarat. She kept a close eye on the
welfare and harmony of the families and the maintenance, hygiene
and timely repairs of the constructions. After studying the income and
family expenditure, she fixed the monthly rental at Rs.9, or Rs.10 or
Rs.11 – depending on the size and location of the apartment. On many
occasions, she waived the rental for a few months, of those who were
unable to meet the monthly payment due to unavoidable circumstances.
It is believed that Nowroz Baug is built in the memory of shipbuilder
Lavji Nusserwanjee Wadia. The Wadia’s were the first family of Mumbai
and master shipbuilders from Surat . They built the HMS Minden, which
sailed to America and form where the ‘Star Spangled Banner” was
composed. Boats built by the Wadias had a silver nail in the keel
indicating they were ready to sail.
Wadia Coat of arms
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Nowroz Baug
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According to another story, Lalbaug gets its name from the presence of the 14th century saint, Syed
Hazrat Lal Shah Baj Qalandar or Lal Shah Sahib’s dargah at Tavaripada.
The dargah stands cheek-by-jowl with a skyscraper. From outside you can’t imagine the beauties within
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There was an interesting temple close by too!

Besides the local Maharashtrians, Lalbaug had a population of Gujarati, Jain, Marwari, Muslim and
even East Indian. East Indian Weddings are grand in the community and are characterised by certain
unique traditions, one of which is the Umra Cha Pani, which is essentially a procession carried out at
night to the gaothan well. Water is collected from the well which is to be used by the bride to have a bath the
next morning. The day after the marriage, a big get-together is held where the guests pitch in the money to
prepare a lavish fish menu.
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Lalbaug has a thriving spice market. After all, in 3000 BC, India was the cradle of spices. Traders came from all
over for black pepper, which was sold at the price of gold. Arab traders inflated prices by creating a legend
that spices like cinnamon had to be stolen from the phoenix’s nest, after driving it away by setting fire to it.
Amar Khamkar Masala was one of the pioneer shops in his business. He has over 12 varieties of chilly. The orange
coloured ones have less oil. The most expensive is the Sankeshwar chilly sold at Rs 1200 per kg.
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Lalbaug’s mirchi galli is a spice souk where red chillies stand tall and strong, the drift of kitchen
smells make noses itch and quaver, and despite the odds against the element, every passerby
wanders in. Shopkeepers, one after the other, on Lalbaug New Market, Shri Ganesh Nagar, have
sacks of chillies from light red to deep burgundies lining the the outside of their shops.
The popular Kashmiri chillies overpower, giving a semblance of heat but actually only lend a rich red
colour to food. These are at INR 260 a kilo. Byadigi chillies, deeper in colour and more shrivelled, hail
from Karnataka, while the pandi mirchi {INR 100-140 a kilo} from Andhra Pradesh have the most heat.
All spices, seeds and condiments are sold here, from cinammon, nutmeg, mace, cardomom, cumin,
peppercons, turmeric, star anise, and more.
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W
hen the spices are
right here, can the
makers be far behind?
Further exploration leads to a right
turn behind the temple, where a
new process begins. The spices
bought from mirchi galli are now
being combined beautifully to form
the roasted masalas for cooking.
Deep frying tavas outside more
shops are places, where turn by
turn a mix of spices are roasted
and mixed with other ingredients. We watch the making of a classic garam masala. This tava splutters, spits and smokes
the flavours of the red chillies into the oil, creating clouds of unruly vapour which make the most resilient of us cough up.
With a deft, almost careless hand, dhaniya, laung, kali mirch and dalchini are tossed into the chillies. After they roast
the makings of a garam masala, the grinding machines inside these shops start stomping on the roasted spices.
After over an hour of thumping and grinding and indecipherable questions yelled over the sound, the mixture has
been flattened into a powder, ready to be passed through a sieve and packed for sale.
On this lane, each shop has long jars of the different masala powders. These are all roasted in the same manner, but
using different combinations of ingredients.
Garam masala, malwana masala, konkana masala, machi masala, kashmiri chilli powder, bhaji masala, kolapuri masala
and even a special Sunday masala, each adding a different flavour to a dish.
In this market, in these gallis, the spices from the tiniest corners of India come together to be made into countless
masalas – not indispensable but to the best of Indian cooks, all necessary.
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You can even custom create a masala by specifying the
ingredients you want.
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72
Selection and Preparation

The grinding
And the
output
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Next door, the Chiwda Galli gets its name from a traditional Indian snack called chiwda - a variable
mixture that includes lentils, peanuts, corn, chickpeas, flaked rice, curry flavoured with salt and a
blend of spices. The standalone snack was popular with the migrant mill workers of this erstwhile
mill hub. Apparently on pay day, the mill workers would pack fresh chiwda for their family. It seems even
Queen Elizabeth loved chivda, she called it Bombay mix!
The first exclusive chiwda shop in this lane opened in 1965 and many more opened thereafter giving this
street a distinct identity and a name – Chiwda Galli. It houses about 10-12 shops today. You can find chiwda
elsewhere but picking it fresh and hot from this lane continues to hold a charm for many.
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Lalbaug in some ways is a reminder of a time when Mumbai’s cosmopolitanism had not been dented
by competitive parochialism. For instance, the place where Lalbaugcha Raja will take his seat on
September 4, is right next to the fish market in Masala Galli.
The most famous fish is of course the Bombil or Lizard fish. How bombil became Bombay duck is quite a
mystery. One theory is that the name is an Anglicism from the bazaar cry in Marathi, ‘bomilta’ — here is
bomil”. Another theory holds that the fish got its name from the Bombay Daak, the train that transported the
fish to Bengal in colonial times, leaving behind an eye-watering, nose-wrinkling pong. The British witticism,
“you smell like the Bombay Daak” got tongue-twisted into “you smell like the Bombay duck”. And the fish that
was already named after a reptile, now found itself named after a bird as well.
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Curiously, a dispute about the fish market in Peru Chawl lay at the heart of how Lalbaugcha Raja began.
The market in Peru Chawl was removed in 1932 after the residents complained of the dirt and the smell.
The fish-sellers and other vendors then prayed to Ganesha for a place to sell their catch, vowing to
establish an idol of the god if their prayers were answered. They eventually got a plot of land.” To fulfill the
vow (navas), the first idol of Lalbaugcha Raja was established in 1934 once the market was set up.
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As much as the stardust of celebrities and politicians, it is this navsacha (wish-fulfilling) reputation of the
Ganpati that draws millions of devotees willing to wait as long as it takes, if it means that the lord will answer
their prayers too.
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The original Lalbaug cha raja was not such a grand structure..
quite the opposite. Here is the original idol, that people pray too even today
The Lalbaugcha Raja Ganapati idol has been organized by the Kambli family for over eight decades. The family
have their workshop in a little lane off the main road in Lalbaug, not very far from the pandal. The father
of Ratnakar Kambli (the head of the Kambli family) was a sculptor of idols and had roaming exhibitions at
festivals across Maharashtra. He began organizing the idol for Lalbaugcha Raja in 1935, when some of his friends
recommended his name to the organisers of Lalbaugcha Raja. After his demise in 1952, his eldest son Venkatesh
took over and, after his death, Ratnakar Kambli, the current head of the family, started designing the idol.
Kambli Arts makes the parts of the Lalbaugcha Raja idol at its workshop; these are taken to the pandal where they
are assembled and painted. Finally, Ratnakar, who is nearly 80 years old, goes to the pandal and draws the eyes.
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Chand Shah Sahib ‘s dargah adjoining the Hanuman theatre is part of the layering of Lalbaug. Over a century and
a half old, the dargah was demolished during the 1992-93 communal riots and had to be rebuilt from scratch.
A Hindu family has been taking care of the dargah since. Like the most revered deity in this neighbourhood,
the two Sufi dargahs have also been associated with wish (mannat) fulfillment.
The Hanuman theatre or the New Hanuman Theatre was famous for its tamasha or folk dance, extremely
popular with the mill workers. It was not merely a dance but an exhilarating and entertaining art of story
storytelling interwoven with mythology and music that spoke the language of the mill workers. It was distinctive
in its lack of any religious content or connotation. It was a composite form of recreation for the workers post
their twelve hour shifts that included pawada or lyrical poetry, skit, song and a very robust and erotic form of
dance – lavani.. Interestingly there is shrine in the courtyard. The sign reads ‘Goddess Mari Aai’. According
to local legend, the shrine is dedicated to the most popular tamasha artist of her time, Mari Aai, who got var
or possessed by goddess. While most Tamasha artists weren’t considered respectable, Mari Aai finds herself
in a place of worship.
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The name Lamington comes from the 2nd lord Baron Lamington, Governor of Mumbai,
The Royal Opera House at one end of Lamington
Road was conceived in 1908 by Maurice Bandmann, a
famous entertainer from Calcutta, and Jehangir Framji
Karaka, who headed a coal brokers’ firm. A baroque design
incorporating a blend of European and Indian detailing was
chosen for the structure. A long frontage was created to
let carriages drive up to the entrance. Twenty-six rows of
boxes behind the stalls were put up for the best view of the
stage. The ceiling was constructed to enable even those in
the gallery to hear every word uttered by the performers.
Initially, the opera house was used strictly for staging operas, and catered almost exclusively to the city’s elite - a
globalised layer of Indians, British officials, a few Europeans. After the first world war, times and tastes changed
and it became difficult to maintain and run the opera house, a sumptuous building, on the income from the opera
alone, so it started showing movies
It was built with exquisite Italian marble. The pediment figure at the pinnacle was substituted with three cherubs.
A pair of unique crystal chandeliers, called the ‘Sans Souci’ were donated by the Sassoon family. The chandeliers,
which were earlier located in the Sassoon mansion, were shifted to the foyer of the opera house. At the main
entrance, the dome is segmented into eight different parts “as a tribute to poets, dramatists, novelists, literati and
people from art and culture.” The original interior of the opera house consisted of orchestra stalls with cosy cane
chairs. Behind the stalls were 26 rows of boxes with couches. The seating enabled a clear view of the stage to all
the people seated in the stalls and in the Dress Circle.
As time went on the Opera House fell into disrepair until finally in May 2008, the Maharashtra Government authorised
conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah to carry out the structural stabilisation and restoration of the building.
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Opera House closeup in all its magnificence
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Cherubs at
the Pediment
Gilded
balconies

Even the buildings adjacent to the Opera
House caught my eye.
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An innocuous jewellers shop with a history. Ambaji Shinde, the Lead Designer
of Harry Winston Jewels New York, trained here. Ambaji’s creations were
worn be Queen Elizabeth 2 and Gwyneth Paltrow at the Oscars.
Venkatesh Ambaji Shinde, a prominent jewelry designer, born on December 22, 1917
in Mapusa, a fishing village in the tiny state of Goa. His father had sold bracelets and
copper cookware. Ambaji as a child became interested in theatre and decorations.
Ambaji’s artistic talent started manifesting itself at the age of seven years. The
caricature of the girl of his age, which cost him slapping, was praised by her father.
So he stuck it in a frame and hung it in the house. The ability of the young artist
were not welcome by parents, and only thanks to the teacher Baskar, who had
convinced Ambaji’s the parents to educate him in Bombay in the most prestigious
art school, the Sir J.J. In 1934, Ambaji Shinde started training artistic craft.
In 1937, Ambaji got the diploma of textile artist and designer. The death of his father, forced Ambaji to become the head of
the family.. Work in the textile industry had not appealed to the young artist, and he got fixed in a job as designer of jewelry
to the one of the largest jewelers in Bombay — Narauttam Bhau Jhaveri. Despite the fact that Ambaji never tried his hand
at designing jewelry, employers liked his sketches and hired him.
In 1938, Shinde got an assignment to create several jewels for the coronation of Maharaja of Baroda, one of the richest and
the most respected families in India. Despite initial doubts, Ambaji decided not to miss this chance and showed his talent
while creating them. The sketches really impressed the customer. From that moment, Shinde was entrusted with the most
difficult and responsible developments
The only drawback during Ambaji Shinde’s work for Bhau Narauttam Jhaveri was that he had no idea about the methods
and rules of making jewelry; his work was limited to the creation of sketches on paper.
In 1940, he married, and, in 1941, he went into Nanubhai Jewelers, where he was working on creating jewelry for nearly 20
years. His next stop was Harry Winston Jewellers, New York
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In April 1910, the YMCA Student Branch was inaugurated
by the governor of Bombay, George Sydenham Clarke. It
was designed by architects Chambers & Fritchley, who had
designed the Army and Navy Building in 1898 and the Knesseth
Eli Synagogue in 1884. It became eligible for Unesco Heritage
site status in 2010 and it was restored at a cost of Rs. 1.8 crore .
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The famous Pannalal Terrace
Famous Cricketers Vinu Mankad and Ashok
Mankad, and Cartoonist Ramesh Buch were
staying here. Mahatma Gandhi has given his
speech in this famous Pannalal Terrace Ground.
As a child 40 years ago, I used to drink
watermelon Sharbat at this very stall for
a princely sum of Rs. 2 per glass. I relived
my childhood memories by having a glass
here in 2021 – at Rs. 25!
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Grant road Station
Imagine its glory at one time!
Graffiti near the ticket window
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The year 1860 saw the start of architecture in Mumbai. Governor Frere broke down the walls of the of the
Bombay fort and started encouraging people to live there. Earlier the Oval Maidan was the end of the
city – the sea began right there. But slowly with the reclamation Marine Drive came up. Even in those
days there was a scam. K F Nariman, a prominent citizen raised an alarm that Rs. 11 crore was being spent
on a 2 Cr tender. The then Government accused him of slander and attempted to sue him. There was a public
uproar and there was a large rally at Chowpatty to protest against this where women too attended. He was
acquitted by the court. Due to the scheme going so awry the government decided to develop only 552 acres
out of the initially proposed 1145 acres. Much of this is covered in the movie “Bombay Velvet”.
Architects like Robert Davidge, George Wittet & Claude Battley made designs for Marine Drive, with
central gardens, recreation areas, walking tracks essentially in a neo-classical design complete with houses
with picket fences and gardens. All of these were rejected and finally 62 buildings came up in Block 1 of
Backbay Reclamation. Claude Batley called the present design “a set of badly fitting teeth” because of the
haphazard planning without any planned recreation spaces or open spaces in between the buildings.
Due to the World War etc there was a budget crunch and buildings like VT or BMC, in the ornate Victorian
and Gothic styles could no longer be built. Princes and aristocrats travelled to Europe and were inspired by
Art Decoratif (“art deco”) style from Paris. Basically it is style on a budget - engineered, clean cut and not
over the top. Besides, After devastating outbreaks of plague and influenza, the Indian city embraced light,
air and a sleek new architectural style.
Manhattan, Miami & Shanghai have plenty of art deco buildings and Mumbai has the second largest
collection of Art deco buildings in the world. These buildings have several unique characteristics which we
will see on the following pages.
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Have a look at the Seksaria Building. The defining feature is a vertical band or column, separating left
and right sides of the building. It is shaped like a ziggurat with streamlined balconies looking like a
train parked at a station. Also special is the way the balcony parapet step up towards the curve.
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Rounded corners and streamlined designs influenced by the design of airplanes, ships, trains, and automobiles
in the early 20th century, made buildings appear aerodynamic, fast, futuristic and sleek. This was done
with the intention to make Art Deco buildings appear modern and sophisticated. See the curvilinear and
curved balconies here, called locomotive balconies.
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These projections above the windows colloquially known as ‘chajjas,’ vary in shape and
may be rectilinear, curved, or angular, or may be continuous eyebrows that extend
continuously along the building line, emphasising horizontality in the building’s design.
They are often painted in a dark contrasting colour along their edges.
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By Law the buildings were limited to five floors. They all had to be the same colour with same plinth size
and plot size. But residents sometimes added a floor on top, as you can see in the Matruchhaya Building.
The design of this top floor is different from all those below - it does not have a circular balcony.
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Egypt held a particular
alure for artists and
designers. The discovery
of the tomb of the boy pharaoh,
Tutankhamun, by Howard Carter
in November 1922, sparked
enormous popular interest.
Generic Egyptian imagery
such as scarabs, hieroglyphics
and pyramids and temples,
proliferated everywhere
including on buildings.
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The basic design was an industrial design based
on symmetrical factors, especially the design on
the parapet wall.
The windows of Art Deco buildings
have a typical look – see the white
windows with the metal grills in
different patterns Once you know,
you can recognize them from a
mile away.
Above Al-Sabah Court. Below
Ganga VIhar
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Being a port city, Bombay was influenced by the era’s
new ocean liners: Bremen (1929), Queen Mary (1936) and
Queen Elizabeth (1940). As a result of this enchantment
with the luxury and grandeur that these ocean liners brought
with them buildings were manifested with nautical features
such as porthole (circular) windows, ship deck-style railings
and observatory towers.
101

locomotive balcony
Sonawala Buidling – note
the horizontal bands and the
“locomotive balcony” – and
portholes too. which were
the influences of the ships.
Windows were often arranged in
continuous horizontal bands of
glass to maintain a streamlined
appearance. Building facades
display horizontal bands
painted in contrasting colours,
accentuating horizontality.
102

The Chajjas of these buildings
were very thin – they were meant
as sunshade not rain shades.
When they failed to protect
against rain, some residents
enclosed them into balconies
Original Windows and
enclosed balcony
103

See the art deco windows
and the Egyptian influence
on the top
Here is what an unmodified balcony looks
like. See the lines in the windows, open grills
in front and the windows at the back. So the
rooms got natural protection from the rain,
with the rain affecting only the balcony area
and not the interiors of the rooms.
104

Note the low compound wall, a
typical feature of art deco buildings–
it is for demarcation rather than
protection, Typically, they are lowheight
walls with metal or concrete
grilles, a quality that allows light and
air to ground floor apartments It is
meant to give an open feeling, that
the building is part of open road.
Note the long railing. Like a ship railing.
Nautical influences abound in Art Deco
What the original windows and railing
used to look like
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Note the central tower separating left and right
sides of the building
Influenced by the city’s abundance of tropical
vegetation, Bombay’s art deco buildings are
externally decorated with stylized forms of
waves, sunburst rays, tropical flora and fauna
which can be seen in porch railings, facades,
metal balcony grilles, ornamental gates and
porch railing.
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Note the sloping top, more like the pediment of the Indo Sarcenic style of architecture. The vertical
bands give a streamlined look. Few art deco windows survive on the ground and first floor.
Building nameplates are expressed in a riot of artistic fonts embodying the streamlined, flamboyant
and geometric characteristics evident in Art Deco buildings. Typefaces consisted of a combination of
straight lines and segments of circles. Check the building name Firdaus which is in an industrial font.
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Note the columns jutting out of
the façade which gives it a postmodern
look. Also the curved
building makes it look bigger
The balconies are curved slightly at the edge.
Also the columns exposed show a postmodern
inspiration.
108

Curved windows, almost bullet-shaped, give a streamlined, aerodynamic
look. Ornate grillework adds to the effect.
109

Flying saucers!
Notice the swastika in the name
110

Grill in gate
Grillework with geometric or tropical inspired
designs is also seen along the site boundaries
such as gates & outdoor lamps
111

Soona Mahal
Soona mahal and Sunder mahal . Tick all the boxes
Elongated forms, curved contours and stripes known as “speed lines” on symmetrical building
facades reflect the Deco era’s infatuation with speed. These were inspired by aerodynamic
innovations in locomotive design, especially that of aeroplanes, automobiles and ocean liners.
This one has the most notable watch tower on top.
112

Red slats
influenced by the city’s abundance of tropical vegetation,
Bombay’s Art deco buildings are externally decorated with
stylized forms of waves, sunburst rays, tropical flora and
fauna which can be seen in porch railings, facades, metal
balcony grilles, ornamental gates and porch railing
Sunder mahal
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The motif of the frozen fountain,
a historical symbol for eternal life
was popularized by the French Glass
designer Rene Lalique. This symbol
soon became a prevalent feature in
building facades and metal grills on Art
Deco buildings across Bombay.

Framroze court. , this building is adorned with some of the most striking window and balcony
details seen on any building across Mumbai. Built between 1936 and 1943 and designed by
Merwanji Bana and Co, the exterior has seen better days, is badly stained and in need of some
tender loving care. Help may be at hand as there were signs of repair going on at one side of the
building. Framroz has a dramatic and decorative glazed stairwell flanked by bay windows at each level
and with sea facing balconies on one side. A number of these have now been enclosed.
115

St. James Court also built by Architects Merwanji
Bana & Co.
The building elements draw inspiration from the
tropical imagery prevalent in its surrounding context.
116

Compound wall with details.
Details in the railing.
117

Building facades display
horizontal or vertical bands
painted in contrasting
colours, accentuating height
or horizontality – this is Moti
Mahal.
Ram Mahal built around 1935, Commissioned
by Maharaja of Bilkha, Gujarat. Designed by
John Mulvaney. It has a space age docking
station in streamlined Deco design.
118

Rakhi Mahal – a new Art deco building
with neo classical features.
119

Astoria hotel. Note the
sandstone front to save
costs.
Recessing the windows was a unique way to make the
faced interesting. It also made the building look taller
as the vertical bands were highlighted. This concept was
later very popular in the modern building of Bombay built
around the 1950s and 60s.
120

The height of buildings in Bombay was limited by strict
developmental regulations over reclaimed land. In order to
evoke allusions to the verticality of skyscrapers whilst being
restricted in their height, Art Deco architects used the concept of
stepping up and stepping back of roof lines, used to mimic a ziggurat (a
temple tower design adopted by Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians
of ancient Mesopotamia). With its dual colour scheme and stepped
up lines, It is reminiscent of a tiered cake.
121

Situated on a prominent corner plot, Eros Cinema was the only mixed-use building in the Art
Deco development at Oval Maidan. With a commanding, V-shaped, form, it looked like a ship
parked at sea, with its name displayed in distinct, Deco lettering and lit up in neon, Eros opened
in 1938 as the city’s most glamorous cinema hall with an ice rink and gold patterns.
Designed by Sohrabji Bhedwar, the building was partially clad with red Agra sandstone which contrasts
with the light cream painted finish on the overall facade.
122

Frozen fountain with flutes in the Industrial assurance bldg.
Court view showing a frozen fountain
123

Fairlawn
Building facades display
horizontal or vertical bands
painted in contrasting
colours, accentuating height
or horizontality. Bands may
be incised into the facade
or have moulded geometric
frieze patterns.
l shaped windows
124

See the grills, railings
and gates with
geometric patterns
125

Eyebrows are projecting edges or “shelves” above a
structures portico to shade from direct sunlight and
keep the interior cool. These also highlighted the
rhythmic horizontality of buildings.
126

Green fields
Chevrons are the repetitive V-shaped
pattern often makes an appearance
as ornamentation on the facades
of Deco buildings, or in metal grille
designs, emphasizing directionality.
127

Queens Court built by legendary architect Gajanan Mhatre, the “shadow architect”,
who never signed his work
To summarise : The Art Deco style buildings are identified by the construction material:
RCC framed structure and or Brick masonry with curved corners and curved balconies,
and with appreciable features like geometrical mild steel railings accentuated by
curves set in the masonry parapet, or protecting the large windows. The window panes
are made of rectangular divisions in timber mullions painted white. The accentuated
curved staircase blocks, patterns with plaster mouldings, grooves and the use of pastel
colours are also part of the Art Deco vocabulary.
128

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B
andra was originally known as Vandra, or
Ape (home of monkeys), and then Bandor
(Portuguese) and then Bandera, Bandura,
Bandore, Pandara, Bandorah, Bandara, and finally Bandra.
It was was originally a tiny fishing village inhabited by
Kolis (fishermen) Kundis(rice tillers) and Bhandaris (toddy
tappers).
Father Manuel Gomes, a Catholic priest, converted
close to 6,000 people to Christianism and established
St. Andrew’s Church. Bandra then became home to East
Indians (original residents of Bombay Salsette, Bassein,
and Thana), a few Goans and Mangalorean immigrants,
Parsis, Muslims, Europeans, besides the Hindu Kolis.
On 12 April 1867, the first railway service was inaugurated,
with one train per day between Virar and Bombay. A grand
railway station building for Bandra was inaugurated in
1869. In the early 1900s, the affluent Pathare Prabhu
community lived in South Mumbai, and used their
quaint bungalows in the Khar part of Bandra as weekend
dwellings. Khar Danda was one of the original villages
of the erstwhile larger Bandra. Back then, the local
Bandra railway station was felt considerably far to alight
from trains and hire ‘tangas’ (horse carriages) to get to
their bungalows by these Bandra residents. So the Khar
station came up
Bandra consisted of many villages, among them Sherly,
Malla, Rajan, Kantwady, Waroda, Ranwar, Boran, Khar
Danda, Pali, and Chuim. On this walk, we went through
Chuim village.
In the 1940s, Chuim Village was as small as 70 houses,
and one could hear the railway wagons being shunted
at Khar Station in the morning as well as the bells of
St. Anne’s Church. Chuim also used to be bustling with
activities like Fishing Day, when fishermen from Chuim
and Danda would cast their nets in the central tank,
leading to the on-the-spot sale of fresh catches. Another
event was the cricket match between the Fernandes
family and the rest of the public which went on until the
60’s, albeit with changing venues. There were so many
Fernandes in Chuim that they could form their own team.
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O
ur walk started at Shri
Dandeshwar Shankar Mandir.
Lord Shiva is believed to be
the Lord of the Danda (sand banks).
Devotees visit this temple to seek
fulfillment of the following : Salvation,
Wealth, Relief from diseases, Purchase
of vehicles, Gaining Knowledge.
Here are some Shlokas associated with
Lord Shiva
Kailaasarana Shiva Chandramouli
Phaneendra Maathaa Mukutee Zalaalee
Kaarunya Sindhu Bhava Dukha Haaree
Thujaveena Shambho Maja Kona Taaree.
Meaning -Oh Lord Shiva who is seated
on Mount Kailash, where the moon
decorates his forehead and the king of
serpents crown his head, who is merciful
and removes delusion, You alone can
protect me. I surrender to thee.
Aum Trayambakam Yajaamahey
Sugandhim Pusti Vardhanam Urvaarukamiva Bandhanaath Mrutyor
Muksheeya Maamritaat.
Meaning -We worship the fragrant Lord Shiva, who has 3 eyes and who
cultivates all beings. May He free me from death, for immortality, as
even a cucumber is separated from its bond with the vine.
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Way back in 1583, Chuim
was one of the twenty five
Catholic villages of Bandra.
In 1858 a chapel was built at Pali Hill,
Bandra and dedicated to St. Anne’s.
The people of Chuim found it more
convenient to attend religious services
at Pali Hill. Chuim was known as ‘Sleepy
Hollow’. Located on the knoll besides the
Arabian sea, the village reminded one
of the Mediterranean seaside villages
especially to the Portuguese. The place
was surrounded on the north by the
village of Danda consisting of fisherman
and the Bhandari toddy tappers. On
the east and south by thick forests
and fields inhabited by large troop of
monkeys especially on the road to Pali,
which till the late 1950s was known as
the Palli Danda Monkey road, due to its
long winding road. Between the hill and
the sea was a vast expanse called Danda
Green which has an expansive 9 hole Golf
Course where members played a double
round to make it an 18 hole Golf Course.
In 1969 a small church was built at the side of the school and was
used for daily mass. The old premises which housed the School and
Church in the Chuim Village was handed over to the Daughters of the
Heart of Mary in 1971 to be developed into a Community Centre now
known as Nirmala Niwas.
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Just adjacent to the temple was the Pali Gymkhana Golf
Course, where not just golf but cricket and hockey were
played. It is unrecognizable now.
These images are restored from the sources of East India
Company & Raj Research Group 1600-1919.
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1 2 3
1. Murals on the wall in Chuim are part of the Bollywood art project. This was the brainchild of mural
artist Ranjit Dahiya. It is a memoir of popular Hindi Cinema of Bollywood and aimed at mapping the
cinematic history of Bollywood over the last century.
2. Here you can see Mother Mary dressed in the garb of an Indian goddess. She was called Vailankani.
This is a classic example of syncretism where religion adapted to suit the Indian way of life.
3. The devotion to Our Lady of Good Health of Velankanni can be traced back to the mid-16th century,
attributed to 3 separate miracles believed by devotees to have been worked at the site: the apparition
of Blessed Mary and the Christ Child to a slumbering shepherd boy, the healing of a handicapped
buttermilk vendor, and the rescue of Portuguese sailors from a deadly sea storm.
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Fernandes house
Note the Steps in front of the house since it was built
on a raised hill
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Here’s an example of Rubble masonry.
It refers to the use of undressed, rough
stone, generally in the construction of
walls. Dry-stone random rubble walls, for
which rough stones are piled up without
mortar, are the most basic form.
Traditional homes in Chuim Village. Can
you believe there are still such homes in
Bandra?
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A cross was commonly put at
locations where three streets
meet, to ward off evil spirits.
Cross with a Mystery script.
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Typical village homes in Chuim.
The house was built on top of the
hill and the rice fields were below.
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Typical Xmas
decorations in
Chuim.
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See the house of Mr.
Rudy Alves - it’s House
# 1 – the first house of
Chuim.
Reminiscent of Harry Potter’s
9 ¾ platform – 10 ¼ Sam
Cottage – probably caused by
dividing the house between the
family members.
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Church in Pali Hill
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Xmas decorations around Bandra
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