Borivali

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Borivali (Marathi बोरीवली) is a suburban area located in the north-west section of Mumbai island. It may also spelled as Borivli. Borivali is approximately 18 km from Mumbai Airport and approximately 33.4 km from Churchgate Railway Station by train. The estimated population of Borivali in 1991 was over 6 lakhs (609617).

Contents

[edit] Railway station

The Borivali Railway Station is a terminus for all slow and fast trains on the Mumbai Suburban Railway system. It also serves as the final city-limit stop for all mail / express trains on WR (now including the August Kranti Rajdhani Express to New Delhi) before leaving Mumbai. As of 2006, there are plans to extend the Harbour Line to Borivali, and expansion plans are in full steam at the railway station.

As of September 2007, there are 8 platforms at Borivali railway station. Platform No: 1,2,3,7,8 (from Borivali(w) side) run trains between Borivali and Churchgate while 4,5,6 are exclusively used for Virar bound trains and mail/express trains. The 1st platform also caters to Virar bound slow train and sometimes express trains. The 7th and 8th platforms are terminal platforms.

[edit] History

Borivali in the earlier days use to be a taluka (district) and contained villages like Eksar Village, Khandivali village, Shimpoli Village and so on. It is not the same any more but will find relevance in old official documents. Borivali was spelled 'Berewlee' by the British.

[edit] Demographics

The people living in this area of Mumbai are predominantly middle class. Like in other parts of the north-western suburbs of Mumbai, the people are friendly and warm. Most of the people in the area are either first or second generation residents from small towns and rural India. They have a blend of traditional ethos and middle class lifestyle and aspirations. The language spoken by most people in public life is Hindi, though they speak their own regional languages in their homes and within their communities. The region has a considerable number of Gujarati, and Marathi speaking people.

[edit] Landmarks

Mumbai is one of the few metropolitan cities in the world which boasts of a natural animal and plant wildlife reserve within the city limits. The park is called Sanjay Gandhi National Park, and lies in the east section of Borivali near the Western Express Highway (NH-8). It has a few lions and panthers and also includes a 4th century B.C. archaeological site called Kanheri Caves and Mandpeshwar Caves. The 2005 census of Leopards was 68.

Gorai Creek is located on the western coast of Borivali. This place is famous as a crossover point for Essel World, Water Kingdom and a quick way to reach Gorai

[edit] Education

Some of the educational institutions and schools in Borivali are:

[edit] Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church

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Borivali has an old Church, this is one of the oldest churches in Mumbai Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church, Mt. Poinsur, also called IC church.

The original IC church was built in AD 1547 by the Franciscans.[citation needed] The Franciscan Fr, Antonio Do Porto earlier owned the village of Mount Poinsur. Soon the Franciscan bought the neighbouring villages of Pare(Goregaon) and Arrangal around 1556-59. Adjoining the Church they also built a Royal College and Monastery in 1549, the ruins of which are still standing close to the present Church building.

Around 1630 there were about 1500 parishioners in the villages of Mount Poinsur, Dhainsa(Dahisar), Simpor, Canary(Kanheri) and Cassor. It was around this time that the name of the church was changed to Our Lady of Immaculate Conception from Our Lady of Piety.[citation needed]

The Mandapeshwar caves had been used by the Franciscans as a crypt of the Church and later served for the Parishioners.

During the Maratha invasion of 1739, Mount Poinsur was captured and the Francisans dispersed. The Church, Friary and College was pillaged and left in ruins.[citation needed] The following 150 years saw the already damaged structure disintegrate into further ruins.

In 1888, through the efforts of the people form Bandra and under the guidance of the Dean of Thane, Fr. Joao Bras Fernandes rebuilt the old parish church and since then it has been a functioning church.[citation needed]

[edit] Mandapeshwar Caves

Borivali has the Mandapeshwar caves. The Portuguese pronounced Mandapeshwar as Mount Peizer and from Mt. Peizer, the place is now known as Mt. Poinsur.

Surprisingly, these caves were built by the Buddhists with the help of the Persians, not by Hindus. These caves are recorded as built around the same time as the Jogeshwari Caves and contained the largest Mandapa and a prominent Garbagriha. These caves were witness to a series of invasions by different rulers and each time the caves were used for a different reason, sometimes even for housing. Years later the cave was also used as a church by the Franciscan priests. The church and its graveyard form one of the edges of the cave precincts. There are ruins of an old structure over the caves. The caves also have in their proximity other educational institutions such as St. Francis D’Assisi High School and Junior College, Technical Institute, Engineering College, School of Interior Design and Decoration. There are encroachments on the other side of the Borivali-Dahisar road.

[edit] History of the Mandpeshwar Caves

This cave is not a temple as it is mistakenly called but is actually "a hall of paintings". The Buddhists of Western India had close ties with the Persians whose supremacy in commerce then was unmatched in the eastern part of the globe. Hence it is believed that the Mandapeshwar caves were planned and sculpted by the Persian artists. Their works depicted the mythical tales of the Hindu gods and goddesses. Even today an elaborate sculpture representing the marriage of Shiva with Parvati may be viewed from the large square window at the south end of these caves.

[edit] Kanheri Caves

Rock cut stair leading to Kanheri
Rock cut stair leading to Kanheri
Spartan plinth beds
Spartan plinth beds
A vihara
A vihara
Vihara - prayer hall
Vihara - prayer hall

The Kanheri Caves are located north of Borivli on the western outskirts of Mumbai, India, deep within the green forests of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Kanheri comes from the Sanskrit word Krishnagiri generally meaning black in color.[1] They were chiseled out of a massive basaltic rock outcropping.[2]

[edit] Description of Kanheri Caves

Wall carvings
Wall carvings

These caves date from 1st Century B.C. to 9th Century A.D. The earliest are 109 tiny rock-cut cells, carved into the side of a hill. Unlike the elegant splendor of Elephanta Caves nearby, these are spartan and unadorned. Each cave has a stone plinth for a bed. A congregation hall with huge stone pillars contains the stupa, a Buddhist shrine. Farther up the hill are the remains of an ancient water system, canals and cisterns that collected and channeled the rainwater into huge tanks.[3] Once the caves became permanent monasteries, they began to be carved out of the rock with intricate reliefs of Buddha and the Bodhisattvas carved into the walls. Kanheri had become an important Buddhist settlement on the Konkan coast by the 3rd century A.D.[4]

The caves as viewed from the base of the hill

Cave 3

Cave 3

Grinder carved out of rock

The caves on the hill

[edit] St Francis D'Assisi High School (The first school in Borivali)

Saint Francis D'Assisi High School and Jr. College was established in a lowly, thatched cottage on the slopes of Mount Poinsur Hill in the year 1908, as an orphanage, mainly to cater to the poor and the downtrodden who lived in and around this region, with just 8 students on the roll.

The school was actually started by a brother under a tree.

St Francis D'Assisi High School is a school in Borivali, Mumbai. It is managed by the Franciscan Missionary Brothers, a Catholic Religious Society founded by Rev. Bro. Paulus Moritz, a German Missionary. The school is recognized by the State Government of Maharashtra. It was established in the year 1908 and has recently celebrated its centennial year.

The school maintains a high standard of education and also provides several opportunities to students for engaging in extracurricular activities. The former is evidenced by the high results that the school obtains in the SSC exams every year. With regard to the latter, the school's sports teams, particularly their football team, consistently perform well and regularly win trophies in the inter-school sports competitions conducted in Mumbai. Factors such as these contribute towards making this school one of the best in the city of Mumbai.

[edit] History

The Society of Franciscan Brothers was founded in 1901 in Mandapeshwar (then called Eksar village) in the northwest corner of Mumbai. The Society was established to look after and educate the orphans in Mumbai and the surrounding areas. A formal orphanage and school were established in 1904. The Society now has several dozen centers in India, running orphanages, educational institutes, medical centers, youth centers, agricultural training farms, etc. All these activities are primarily targeted at orphans, the poor, and the lower middle class.

The Congregation of the Missionary Brothers of St. Francis D' Assisi (C.M.S.F) is an international Charitable Society of Religious Brothers, founded in 1901 in India by Paulus Moritz. It is a Religious Missionary Institute of Pontifical Right, under the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The Congregation follows the Rule of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Assisi. The Franciscan Missionary Brothers are well known in India for their valuable contributions in different fields.

[edit] Colonies in Borivali

The Church is surrounded by many colonies such as I.C Colony, LIC Colony, Madonna Colony, Marian Colony and Kanderpada. Just next to this church is Saint Francis D'Assisi High School. This is also one of the oldest schools in Mumbai. This area has the highest concentration of Christians in Mumbai. I.C Colony, an area to the South of the Immaculate Conception Church is populated by a very large congregation of Catholics in Mumbai. The Holy Cross Colony and extension (also called I.C. extension) which extends beyond I.C Colony towards Dahisar (Mumbai's last zone before Thane District) is also part of the extended Catholic locale.

Opposite Shimpoli Telephone Exchange near Chikuwadi, is located Kanti Park, which is the SBI's Associate Banks' Officers' Colony.

Extravaganza, Essel World & the largest water park in Asia, Water Kingdom are located at Gorai Creek, just west of Borivali.

Shanti Ashram is very closeby to IC Colony and is a temple for the Sindhi Community. There are 2 clubs - Club Aquaria and Eskay Resort in this area.

Eksar Village is an area where there is a fish market for the Maharashtrian Community.

There is an ST stand in Borivali(E) near the station. Travelling to Thane City is easier and less time consuming by this mode, than by trains which involves changing from Western to central at Dadar. It takes only 40 min. to reach Thane railway station

[edit] Shopping Centres

Borivali also provides good markets for shopping. Major Shopping areas are Borivali Station(W) where complexes such as Indraprastha, Thakkar Mall, Goyal Arcade provide varied choices to shop.

[edit] Healthcare facilities

The Bhagwati Hospital is one of the largest municipal hospitals in Mumbai. The hospital, built in 1963, caters to the population from Andheri to Dahanu. Currently it contains 363 beds, however plans are being made to modernise the hospital, by starting a medical college and converting it into a 750-bed super-speciality hospital. The hospital is located at SVP Road, Mandpeshwar.
The Karuna hosipital is also located borivali at LIC Colony. The hospital is a 100 Bed hospital and has all types of Doctors that you can possibly ask for. It is run by the Christian Sisters and they just charge Rs. 50 for a Consultation.

In addition to these hospitals, Borivali contains several private clinics and nursing homes.

[edit] Famous people

Famous people, who have lived in, or are currently living in Borivli include-

  • Rohit Sharma, India cricketer
  • Ram Naik, former MP and Union Petroleum Minister
  • Chhaya Momaya, grooming expert and socialite
  • Many TV Series stars
  • Ritesh Sanghavi
  • Milind Shivalkar
  • Manish B. Joshi

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kanheri Caves. Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
  2. ^ Mumbai's Ancient Kanheri Caves.
  3. ^ Mumbai attractions. Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
  4. ^ Kanheri Caves Mumbai. Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
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