Mumbai........as it was

I always used to wonder about some of the names given to Mumbai Locations until i decided to find the truth behind them, and look what i discovered.....

To begin with, the name "Mumbai" is derived from Mumba or Maha-Amba – the name of the goddess Mumbadevi. The city was formerly called Bombay and got its name from its portugese roots. who used to call it Bombaim meaning "good bay"., still common in current Portugese use. The Britishers gained possession in the 17th century, and the name was changed to Bombay. Various names with which portugese used to call it, initially are Benamajambu, Tena-Maiambu, Mombayn and Mombaim and find reference in Portugese literature as well.

The second name I was always inquisitve about was Churchgate. Churchgate is an area in South Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The station gets its name from Church Gate street (now Veer Nariman Road) which lines on the immediate south of the station. During the eighteenth and up to the mid 19th century, Bombay was a walled city. The city walls had three gates, and Church Gate, named after St. Thomas Cathedral, was one of the gates. The gate was once situated near the present day location of Flora Fountain. In the mid nineteenth century, the city walls were torn down to aid in the expansion program.

Kurla is another place, whose name i was intrigued because of the way its initials are maintianed in railways. The name of Kurla has originated from a name of a small fish "Kurli". This suburb is built on a seawater where earlier these small fishes were found. In actual terms, suburb Kurla is called to be as Coorla and that's why still if you board a local train from CST on the central line, the train to Kurla is represented by C and not K.

The term Santa Cruz comes from Portugese words meaning Holy Cross. The name given to a church that existed on a site on the western side of the railway station, at the site presently occupied by the Sacred Heart Boys School/Sacred Heart Church and which had been devastated by the Marathas during their conquest of the region from Portugal. This former parish church gave its name to the locality.

I have been living in this area for some time now and have always been trying to find that invisible thing called FORT. The British began construction of the fort soon after taking over the seven islands of Bombay in 1668. and the work on the fort continued until 1716. The fort had three gates, called the Apollo Gate, Church Gate and Bazaar Gate. The castle was surrounded by residences, shops and places of worship. A moat was also built in 1743. An esplanade, level open space along the western fringe of the fort, was maintained for defensive reasons, to provide a clear line of fire. The fort itself was demolished by Sir Bartle Frere, Governor of Bombay in the 1860s, as serving no purpose. The ramparts were removed, the moat filled in, and the area was significantly re-structured.

I never saw any black horse running around the Kala Ghoda area and always wondered whether the place got its name because of the painting of black horse done on a restaurent's wall in the Kala Ghoda Art district. Actually, the name means Black Horse, as a reference to a black stone statue of King Edward VII (as the then Prince of Wales) mounted on a horse. The statue was removed in 1965 to storehouses of a museseum in Byculla, but the name persisted. The statue is now in the Jijamata Udyan in Byculla.

And this is the best picture of all..........showing the seven islands of Mumbai, before they were reclaimed to give us this beautiful city.