GAMDEVI

Nestled at the foot of Malabar Hill was a quiet village named 'Gamdevi' or 'Gaondevi', meaning village of the Goddess. The area is still known by this name though the 'village' is long gone. Small houses have been replaced with multi-storeyed structures. There are no personal gardens and very few trees.

The sands of Chowpatty beach and the gently lapping waves are the natural southern border of the area. On the east there is the busy Grant Road station, on the west the hard rock of the Hill with its reservoir atop, and in the north intersection of Kemps Corner. The main roads demarking the area are Hughes Road from Kemps Corner, Pandita Ramabai Marg from Chowpatty to Nana Chowk, and August Kranti Marg from there back to Kemps Corner.

Connecting Hughes Road to Pandita Ramabai Marg are Vaccha Gandhi Marg, Laburnum Road, and Kashibai Navrange Marg. They all had beautiful old trees. Golden Shower trees or the Laburnum trees were planted in rows along the road named after these blossoms, which formed a canopy of yellow hanging bunches. Beauty of nature gone forever! 

A small precinct in our city, but with many sites of great importance. The Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, where Alexander Octavian Hume organised the first meeting of the Indian National Congress on 28 December 1885. The Gowalia Tank, today's August Kranti Maidan, where the Quit India call was given on 9th August 1942. Arya Mahila Samaj and Seva Sadan Society, started in 1908 by Pandita Ramabai  'to protect, educate and empower girls and women'. All written about in earlier articles. Thus now an introduction to other treasures.

Gamdevi Temple

Inhabited mostly by Hindus, it is dotted with educational institutions and temples.

The main temple is dedicated to Goddess Durga as 'Lilavati' a 'graceful woman'.  It is considered to be one of the oldest temples on the islands, being more than 200 years old and has a story about its idol. In 1661 Bapuji Mahatre, a Prabhu, dreamt of finding a statue amongst the rocks of Malabar Hill. He shared this dream with his friends and they brought the idol down to the village. Later another Prabhu, Balaji Bhikaji built the temple, which still stands.

Mani Bhavan

Mani Bhavan, situated on Laburnum Road is one of the most famous buildings in the precinct. It is a simple ground + 2 stories structure. It was owned by Revashankar Jagjeevan Jhaveri, a friend of Mahatma Gandhi. He invited Gandhiji to stay therein, and from 1917 to 1934 the house became the focal point of political activities in Mumbai. From here were initiated the Non-Cooperation, Satyagraha, Swadeshi, Khadi, Khilafat and Home Rule Movements. On 4th January 1932 Gandhiji was arrested from the terrace.

In 1955 the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi took over the building to maintain it as a memorial to Gandhiji. Today visitors from the city, country and overseas pay their respects to the Father of the Nation. 

St. Columba's School for Girls

This educational institution was established in 1832 by Margaret (Bayne). She and her husband John Wilson arrived in India in 1829 as missionaries of the Church of Scotland, learnt Marathi and then started on their pioneering efforts to provide English education. John started Wilson High School and College and she devoted herself to establish St. Columba's as the first boarding school for girls in western India.
 
The School has a fairly large campus with entrances from two roads, August Kranti Marg and Kashibai Navrange Marg. The latter being the main one. Pandita Ramabai Girls Hostel is on the corner of Kashibai Marg and Papnas Wadi Road.

Unfortunately Margaret Bayne died in 1835 in Bombay, but her two sisters came out to carry on her work. It offered the best education in Marathi and English and thousands of girls continue to benefit from this.

In 2012 the Department of Posts brought out a Special Cover to recognise the contribution to Indian society.

Miniature Gateway & Gas Lamps

Rao Bahadur Yeshwantrao Harishchandra Desai was the superintendent of  the team that built the original Gateway at Apollo Bunder. His home was down an extremely narrow 6-foot wide Lane, Bhendi Gali. Today in its place stands the Yeshwant Siddhi Cooperative Society.

When he was entrusted to build the Gateway as per Scottish architect, George Wittet's  design, he first made a small model from yellow sandstone brought from Kharodi in Rajasthan, the same material as is used for the world-famous iconic structure. He even had intricate carvings done as per design, but only on one side. This beautiful little model is guardedly housed within the Cooperative Society and looked after by his descendents.
In the narrow Lane also exists the last of the Gas Lights that lit the city streets till the middle of the 20th Century.

The above four structures merit visits as each tell their own history and the history of the city. Please do spare the time to look at these treasures we have inherited.

Anita Garware, Chairperson, Indian Heritage Society - Mumbai.
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