Bandra Vandre | |
|---|---|
Suburb | |
  .jpg)  .JPG) .jpg) Bandra–Worli Sea Link, IL & FS -Bandra Kurla Complex, PWC office, Mumbai Bandstand Promenade, Jama Masjid Bandra and ICICI Bank | |
  Bandra Bandra (India) Show map of India Bandra Bandra (Mumbai) Show map of Mumbai | |
| Coordinates:19°03′16″N72°50′26″E / 19.054444°N 72.840556°E /19.054444; 72.840556 | |
| Country | India |
| State | Maharashtra |
| District | Mumbai Suburban |
| City | Mumbai |
| Zone | 3 |
| Ward | H West |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal corporation |
| • Body | Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) |
| Population (2017) | |
• Total | 337,391[1] |
| Demonyms | Mumbaikar |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Marathi |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | Bandra - 400050, 400051 |
| Vehicle registration | MH-02 |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Mumbai North Central |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Bandra West (covers Bandra West) Bandra East (covers Bandra East) |
Bandra ([bæːɳɖɾa]) is a coastal suburb located inMumbai, the largest city of theKonkan division inMaharashtra,India. The area is located to the immediate north of theRiver Mithi, which separates Bandra from theMumbai City district.[2] It is the third-largest commercial hub inMaharashtra, after the Mumbai City andPune, primarily aided by theBandra Kurla Complex.[3]
Before the opening ofKhar Road railway station on 1 July 1924, Bandra was a larger area and included the present dayKhar neighbourhood.[4] It was considered too large a suburb to be served by one railway station, and a railway station was established to give the northern part of Bandra closer access to theWestern Railway line. This eventually led to Khar being considered a separate suburb.[5] However, to this day, the two adjoinedsuburbs make up one homogeneous zone. A number of prominent residents of Bandra are celebrities or VIPs who are or have been active inBollywood, media, cricket or politics.
The original name of the suburb "Vandre", originates from the Marathi word for monkeys, or "Vandr",[6]."However, another theory suggests that "Bandra", possibly originates from thePersian word for port, or "bandar."[7] It is described byDuncan Forbes's inA Dictionary, Hindustani and English (1848) as "a city; an emporium; a port, harbor; a trading town to which numbers of foreign merchants resort".[8] InKonkani,bandar is aloanword from Persian meaningharbour orport.[9][10]
The area, along with much of theKonkan region, was ruled by theSilhara dynasty in the 12th century. Bandra was a tiny fishing village inhabited byKolis (fishermen) andsalt farmers. The area was part ofPortuguese Bombay territory, extending fromDamaon toChaul, before its acquisition by theEnglish East India Company.
In 1534, Diego da Silveira, apirate from theMediterranean, entered Bandra's creek and burned the fishing town he found there. With that, Bandra came under the rule of thePortuguese Goa.[11]
A period ofChristianisation began in Bandra. FatherConceicao Rodrigues, aCatholic priest, was instrumental in increasing the Church's prominence in Bandra.[citation needed] In 1580, he baptised about 2,000 fishermen. By the time he died 11 years later, Father Gomes' "invincible strength of soul", as one historian describes it, had helped convert close to 6,000 people in the area.[citation needed] Father Gomes also establishedSt. Andrew's Church.
Bandra officially became a possession of thePortuguese East Indies when theSultanate of Cambay ceded Bandra and adjacent areas via theTreaty of Bassein (1534), which was signed aboard thebrig namedSao Mateus (St. Matthew) atVasai (Bassein) harbour, aided by Governor-GeneralNuno da Cunha andDiego da Silveira. The Portugueseenfeoffed (gave) Bandra,Kurla,Mazgaon, and four other villages in 1548 toAntónio Pessoa; as a reward for his military services. This was confirmed by the Royal Chancellery on 2 February 1550.[citation needed]
As these villages were given for a period of "two lives", they reverted to thePortuguese Crown after the death ofIsabel Botelha, Pessoa's widow. In 1568, theJesuits who had applied for acquisition of these villages in anticipation of Isabel's death, obtained them from thePortuguese viceroy in Goa, they received royal confirmation fromLisbon, in 1570.[12]
In 1661, whenCharles II of England married Catherine of Portugal, theSeven Islands of Bombay were given away as part of thedowry of Catherine Braganza.[13] However,Salsette island, on which Bandra laid, was not part of this treaty and remained with the Portuguese.[14]
ThePortuguese Empire built additional chapels, oratories& churches in Bandra, one of the earliest beingSt Andrew's Church in 1575. Their Jesuit missionaries, who learnedlocal languages and cultures, attracted many Indian converts toWestern Christianity (Catholicism) among the natives of the island. Their descendants continued their membership of the six Catholicparish churches—Mount Carmel, St. Peter's, St Andrew's, St Theresa's, St Anne's and St Francis d'Assisi; that lie within an area of four square kilometres.[15]
Bandra became part of the English territory with the signing of theTreaty of Surat in 1775, but was retroceded to theMarathas in 1779 during theFirst Anglo-Maratha War. In 1802,Baji Rao II signed theTreaty of Bassein with the English, surrendering sovereignty and again ceding Bandra, and it remained under British control until 14 August 1947.
Arrival of Railways and Development: On 12 April 1867, the first railway service was inaugurated, with one train per day betweenVirar and Bombay, as part of the then private rail company,BB&CI, which was the earliest form ofWestern Railway. A grand railway station building for Bandra was inaugurated in 1869. The innovative aspects used in the design of this structure are visible to this day.[citation needed] On closer scrutiny, it is evident how railway tracks bunched together, make up each of the iron pillars, that hold up the roof over the platforms. In 1873, with growing demands, the frequency of trains available was increased to 24 each day. In the early 1900s, the affluentPathare Prabhu community lived inSouth Mumbai, and used their quaintbungalows 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 localBandra railway station was felt considerably far to alight from trains and hire 'tangas' (horse carriages) to get to their bungalows by these Bandra residents. Keeping these factors and Bandra's growing population in mind, a new railway station named 'Khar Road' was introduced adjoiningBandra Railway station on 1 July 1924. This development is the primary reason that the Khar part of Bandra started being referred to as a suburb by itself.[16] As late as the 1930s, Bandra had only one bus service fromPali Naka,Hill Road, to the Railway station. Other people just walked to the nearest railway station. AfterWorld War II, the building boom began with an aim to accommodate immigrants. As of 2018, 940 trains stop daily atBandra railway station.[citation needed]
Bandra was raised to the status of amunicipality in 1876 and was then expanded.[citation needed] In 1950, following independence, it was merged into the Bombay Municipal Corporation to form theMunicipal Corporation of Greater Bombay. Bandra consisted of many villages, among them Sherly, Malla, Rajan, Kantwady, Waroda, Ranwar, Boran, Khar Danda, Pali, and Chuim. These have almost been lost to the urban development of the island.[citation needed]
TheBandra Fair is held during the eight days of the Octave of the Nativity of Our Lady, beginning 8 September, when people throng the church.[17][18]
The first school founded in Bandra after Bombay passed on to the English was St Andrew's Parish School, started by Fr.Francisco de Melo in 1780 to teach catechism to the children of the parish. This later becameSt. Andrew's High School.[19] The school is located in Bandra West.
St. Theresa's High School grew out of St. Andrew's Indian Christians' School, housed in a very dilapidated building situated in Old Khar. This school was founded in 1918. It was taken over by the Society of Divine Word (S.V.D). in 1952. It is counted among the best schools inMumbai.[20]
St. Stanislaus High School was founded in 1863 by theSociety of Jesus. It started as a Native Boy's orphanage. It became a high school in 1923 and was the first English medium school in the suburbs. Later, it grew to be a full-fledged educational institution for day-scholars as well as boarders. Cardinal Gracias High School is aconvent school located in Bandra East. St. Joseph's Convent High School for girls is run by the nuns of the congregation of the Daughters of the Cross in Bandra West. It was built in 1865 (Bandra was then known as Bandora)[21] and boasts a chapel. The school has produced illustrious alumni over the years.[22]R.D. National College was originally set up in 1922 inHyderabad, Pakistan under the guidance ofAnnie Besant. In the run-up to thePartition of India, it was relocated to its present site in 1949 in Bandra. TheThadomal Shahani Engineering College was established in 1983 by theHyderabad (Sind) National Collegiate Board.
TheRizvi Education Complex, located offCarter Road, comprises theRizvi College of Arts, Science and Commerce as well as Rizvi High School (both established in 1985);Rizvi College of Engineering (established in 1998); Rizvi College of Architecture; Rizvi College of Hotel Management & Catering Technology;Rizvi Law College; Rizvi College of Education and the Rizvi College of Fashion Designing & Creative Arts.[23] All are managed by the Rizvi Education Society, and may have the status ofMuslim religious minority institution.
St. Andrew's College of Arts, Science and Commerce is another famous college located in the heart of Bandra, just a few hundred metres away from St. Stanislaus High School. St. Andrews boasts of one of the best auditoriums in the city.[24]
IES's Management College an Research Centre is also located at Bandra Reclamation. It offers PGDM programs related to management and pharma.[25]
Bandra Lake, also called Bandra Talao or Motha Reservoir, was constructed by a richKonkani Muslim ofNavapada (also spelled Naupada or Naopara), an adjoining village.[26]
The lake was later acquired by theMunicipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. It was officially renamedSwami Vivekanand Sarovar. Paddle boating facilities andpisciculture (fish farming) activities were operational in this lake during the 1990s but have since stopped. This lake is now a heritage structure of "Heritage II" status.[26][27][28] The Portuguese also pronounced Bandra As Bandora.
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As traffic in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region worsened, especially inSouth Mumbai, there was increased demand to construct a business district outside of Mumbai, in the suburbs. In the mid-2000s, the city of Mumbai started an audacious task to reclaim lands on theMithi River in the eastern portion of the city, near theKurla border. The newly formedBandra Kurla Complex (BKC) has attracted several equity and technology firms, such as Blackstone,Google, andAmazon, who chose Bandra instead of Mumbai City for its location, lower-cost of land, and new development.
As the last suburb before enteringMumbai City, Bandra has for a while been strained with traffic, particularly around the railway station and S.V. Road. The development of a business centre has only exacerbated the traffic problems, as unlike other commercial hubs, Bandra's BKC is located betweenBandra andKurla stations and requires approximately 10-15 minute vehicular commute from either of the stations. Nearly 300,000 office-goers alight daily at Bandra Railway Station and take a taxi or bus to BKC. This has madeBandra among the busiest stations in India, surpassingAndheri andBombay Central, and the second-busiest station in Maharashtra's Western Railway afterChurchgate railway station.
In 1993, a group of terrorists attacked a hotel in Bandra in addition to other sites in the city.[29]
Bandra has a large collection of street art or graffiti. The paintings on walls are principally located in the vicinity of Chapel Road and Veronica Street, but prominent works are also visible near the Bandstand andMount Mary Church.[30][31] They consist of various types of graffiti, including pieces, stencils, tags, etc. Globally renowned artists such as Gomez have created works on these walls.St+art Mumbai,Bollywood Art Project[32] and Dharavi Art Room are some of the organisations that conduct various programs to encourage the artists. The programs have support from theBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).[33] Bandra was also home to the 37X46 metre (120X150 foot) portrait ofDadasaheb Phalke on theMTNL building at Bandra Reclamation. It was created by Ranjit Dahiya (from the Bollywood Art Project) and other artists includingYantr, Munir Bukhari and Nilesh Kharade as part of the St+art Mumbai festival in 2014. The mural was unveiled officially byAmitabh Bachchan andPiyush Pandey, but the building has been re-painted.[34] It is reportedly Asia's largest mural.[35]
Many of the characters in the book Bloodline Bandra[36] by Godfrey Joseph Pereira (2014), are East Indian, including the protagonist, journalist, David Cabral, who reside in a village (hamlet) called Pali in Bandra. The book itself is set in the 1950s with the first half of the book having most of the action inPali Village, a predominantlyEast Indian populace at the time.
Bandra is split by the local railway-line into West Bandra (Postal Code 400050) and East Bandra (Postal Code 400051). The part of Bandra located on the western side of the railway line developed into a fashionable suburb by the middle of the 20th century. Film directorMehboob Khan established theMehboob Studios here in 1954. Soon the area became a center for the Indian movie industry,Bollywood. A recording studio was set up in the 1970s.[37][38]
In the mid-to-late 1990s, the eastern part emerged as a commercial and administrative hub. It houses the Family Court,Bandra Kurla Commercial Complex, the office of the state housing development authority (MHADA) and the office of theDistrict Collector. The residential quarters of the employees of the Maharashtra State Government are also located here.
Most roads and places in Bandra were given English names duringBritish rule. They have been renamed over time but many are still popularly known by their old names.
Bandra railway station is connected with theWestern Railway and theHarbour Line, which is an offshoot of the suburbanCentral Railway. It also has a newly built terminus calledBandra Terminus in Bandra (E) from where trains bound for northern and western India are scheduled regularly. The important trains include the Bandra-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, Bandra-Indore Express, Bandra-Patna Express, Bandra-Jaipur Express, Bandra-Jodhpur Express and the Bandra-Amritsar Express.
Public transport also includesBEST buses, auto rickshaws and taxis, which are abundant. Bandra is the last southern point from Mumbai where auto rickshaws ply. Beyond Bandra, enteringMahim, only taxis are allowed to ply.
TheBandra–Worli Sea Link bridge connects Bandra West withWorli, located in central Mumbai. Due to Bandra's central location, most parts of the city are easily accessible.
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