Who Lives in Nagpadas?
- eesha palkar
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
From the title, one would assume that Nags (snakes) reside in the area. One would not be completely wrong. But nags are just a small part of the entire vicinity. Yes, I know the area is named after them, but you would be fascinated to know about the various types Nagpada residents. A few weeks back, I didn’t even know that there exists not one but two Nagpadas in Mumbai. Both separated by a flyover. It’s completely different world on both sides.
I discovered both these Nagpadas on the two explorations I did with my all-time favorite heritage-infused Khaki Tours. The first walk was in the Old Nagpada area, starting near the Charnull Police Station. This was my 40th walk with Khaki tours and 8th walk with Vinayak, the ambassador who conducted the walk.
Old Nagpada walk starts from Azad Restaurant near the Charnull Police station. One of the main reasons for me to go for this walk was that it began at 10 in the morning. Any Khaki tour begins with locating the area of exploration on the map. Even though Old Nagpada is next to Dongri, it doesn’t have any gangster or don related tales. The word Dongri comes from the word Dongar meaning hill in Marathi.
During the Bubonic Plague of 1896, a lot of redevelopments happened in this area. A major one was the demolition of the Navroji hill to build more open spaces. Before the plague, almost all the houses were too cramped up and there was no proper ventilation and sanitation systems. The British Government then decided to build more open roads leading to the construction of the Sandhurst Road, named after William Mansfield, he was given the title 1st Viscount Sandhurst. This gave name to the Sandhurst Road Station. Official name is Sardar Vallabhai Patel Road. It starts at Opera House in the west and goes all the way to Bhendi Bazar/ Masjid Bunder area in the east making it about 5kms in distance.
The residents of Old Nagpada mostly comprised of the Khojas. Earlier the area was even known as Khoja Mohalla. Any evidence of this can be seen on an Art Deco Bank building with the initials ICB (Ismailia Co-operative Bank Limited).
The Ismailia Co-operative Bank Limited and the Masalawala Co-operative Bank merged to form Development Corporate Bank (DCB) in the year 1995.
Furthermore, Vinayak showed us a photo of a surmawala who used to put up his shop up until Covid times. Unfortunately, the person passed away in the pandemic and no one from his family is ready to continue ahead.
Walking further, there was a small mosque in front of us. The mosque is known as Bawdi wadi Rifai Dargah. If you are wondering, why the name Bawdi wadi, the reason being the Mosque was built around a well.
After exploring the Mosque’s exteriors, the walking group moved towards a beautiful and serene cemetery. A place so quiet one would easily get lost in there. But was overshadowed by skyscrapers from all sides. From then on, we spotted a dispensary and a public school named as Jafarbhoy Rahimtula Primary School.
Walking further, we came across another fascinating school. Rather its front façade was worth looking at. It has engravings related to arts, science, music and maths. Such a cool concept !
Diamond Jubilee High School for Girls was built in 1925, making it more than a century old now. The school’s entrance is on a road named as Dharmshala Road. The structure in which the Dharmshala used to operate from, still exists but it does not function as a Dharmshala.
Just behind the Dharmshala is a temple dedicated to Shree Laxmi Narayan. A quiet and calm place of worship away from all the hustle and bustle of the area.
The Old Nagpada walk concludes at Juna Nagpada - Shree Nagoba Mandir. It’s a beautiful black stone temple representing the Nagdev. There is a belief that a nag used to come from below the ground over here but no sighting for years together.
A lot of changes happened in the city after The Bubonic Plague of 1896. One of which was the development of the first planned suburb of Mumbai, Nagpada. The walk which I attended was aptly titled as New Nagpada. So, this became my 41st walk with Khaki Tours. I went for both walks on the same day. None of the participants were same except me. Even this walk began at a restaurant. Rolex Restaurant is situated at a busy junction with almost five roads merging.
The ambassador for this walk was Sonniya. My first walking exploration with her.
This Nagpada was predominately owned by the Bene Israeli Jews. There is even a hidden tombstone which signifies the same. This tombstone is located at a deep end of a serene garden. There is a walking track dedicated to yesteryears comedy actor Kader Khan in the same park. The aftermath of the plague led to the construction of East – West roads, earlier only North – South roads were present. This new zone came to be known as New Nagpada.
After the Bombay City Infrastructure Trust came into being, it led to a shift in the residences; the buildings were ground and two floors above them. Mostly, the ground floors were used for commercial purposes. This trend continues in Mumbai, something I personally hate.
Our next stop was a beautiful black coloured 1880 stone building. The compound wall had moss all over. It had wooden staircase going up the first floor. There were arch shaped windows all over. This was the Nagpada Police Station, which is still functioning.
Yes, it’s the same place where shots were fired at Dawood Ibrahim, the gangster, but he was saved by his bodyguard. Later in the walk, Sonniya, our ambassador also showed us the school in which Dawood Ibrahim studied. The flat in which Hasina Parkar, his sister resided was also shown during this guided trail.
The walk was filled with showers every now and then. Along with the showers there were even stenches. With umbrellas over our heads, the walking group reached the Mastan ground. I was so happy to see kids playing sports like cricket, football and basketball all over it. Then Sonniya said this is the place where Basketball league is held each year and I was surprised to know that it’s a basketball court.
Another interesting aspect that I came to know about was the ground is built over a water tank, which is now fully closed. The city of Mumbai was filled with many such water tanks earlier, the reason being the flowing water through the taps wasn’t available back then. The old maps of the area surrounding the water tank, even show markings of two temples.
Our next stop was the Shree Nagoba Mandir. Off course there had to be a Nag mandir in this Nagpada as well. But let me tell you that the walk towards the temple wasn’t easy. The street was filled with smells of meat sellers from both sides. This temple is open only on Nag Panchami. Earlier there used to be week-long celebrations during the festive season, but it’s reduced to a day now.
The Old Nagpada and The New Nagpada walks were conducted to celebrate the spirit of Nag Panchami in the area. Somehow, I just managed to go for both the walks on the same day. Was it worth, all the efforts I took? Yes absolutely. Some places like Dawood Nursing Home are torn down today or the Budia Surma being closed but it’s still worth it to go and observe them.
Eesha...thank you to bring us more closer towards knowing real mumbai...it was very informative
Good read, Eesha!