Touring the Calm Forts and Buzzing Bazaars of Sion

Sion Fort

Last within the limits of Bombay City and Island, Sion has seen many a ruler come and go, before India became independent. It saw the rule of the Sultans of Gujarat, followed by the Portuguese (around 16^th Century) and finally the British.

Today situated in the heart of Mumbai, it acts as an access point to Western and the Central suburbs and to Navi Mumbai. From Churches to temples, forts to Buzzing Bazaar, hospitals to cultural centres, refugee camps to planned township, Sion has it all.

Sahapedia has come up with Indian Heritage Walk Festival which they are celebrating throughout the month of February. In totality they will be conducting numerous walks in more than 40 cities in India.

I attended the heritage walk in Sion which was held on February 3, 2019, 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM and was led by Ashwini Nawathe.

When you travel on the central line of the local railways in Mumbai, we have all heard –

“Pudhil Station Sheev,
Agala Station Sion,
Next Station Sion”.

But how many of us know what Sion means?

Sheev as Sion is popularly known in Marathi means limit or boundary. Back in the 17^th Century Sion formed the boundary between the Mumbai Island and the Salsette Island (Thane).

Seven Islands of Bombay

Back in the 16^th Century and earlier, Bombay was a cluster of Seven Islands which were a part of the Silhara Dynasty and the Sultan of Gujarat. These islands were then captured by the Portuguese around the 16^th Century which were later handed over to the British as a part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza (from Portugal) when she married Charles II in 1661.

The islands handed over to the British were:

• Isle of Bombay
• Colaba
• Old Woman’s Island (Little Colaba)
• Mahim
• Mazagaon
• Parel
• Worli

Seven Islands of Bombay PC - Wikipedia

After acquiring the islands as dowry, Charles II rented the islands to East India Company. By 1845, the islands had been merged through various land reclamation projects.

Heritage Walk

We all met our walk leader Ms. Ashwini Nawathe near the ticket counter of the Sion railway Station. Our first stop was to “Our Lady of Good Counsel Church” which is just next to the Sion Railway Station. Our Lady of Good Counsel Church is one of the oldest churches in Bombay. Initially it was a chapel and was affiliated to the St. Michael’s Church at Mahim. The chapel was separated from Mahim and was entrusted to the Franciscans. The chapel was then converted into a Church.

Our Lady of Good Counsel Church

The church also houses a convent co-ed school which is more than 100 years old. On your visit to the church, don’t miss the beautiful stained glass windows of the church.

Next came the up-hill walk just next to the ayurvedic hospital in Sion. Here on the uphill you can see watch towers which were made for fortifying the northern frontier of Bombay. In order to fortify Bombay various forts were made namely – Worli Fort, Mahim Fort, Bandra Fort, Dharavi Fort (Kalla Killa), Sion Fort & Sewri Fort.

Uphill Walk

Strong fortifying was done by the British on the places where the Marathas and Portuguese had made small watch towers etc. This Hill was blasted twice – once to make space for laying the railway tracks for the Central Line and second time to make way for the Eastern Express Highway. If these blasts had not taken place the hill directly extends till the Sion Fort.

This land is marked as “Villa Residence” is actually a sanatorium of ayurveda.

One close look of the architecture of the building you will notice that it is a mix of Gothic & Renaissance structure which is known as “Maunlein” style. Have a look at the pillars which clearly reflect the Roman Style.

Villa Residence

At one entrance of the sanatorium the inscription is engraved in wood in English and at the other entrance in Gujarati. Please note that the year of construction has been carved out (May be they don’t want the building to gain a heritage status).

One part of the sanatorium has been now converted into a boy’s hostel.

We walk down the stairs and also the hill and we come across a beautiful green painted bungalow which was at that time, the last house on the Mumbai Island City. The owner of the house recalls his childhood days (atleast 60 years back), when the area was unsafe at night – as it was wild and had jackals roaming around post dusk.

Once on the main road you come across a pond next to the Dwikuta Temple (Dwi means two and kuta means kalash) of Shiva and Parwati. It is said that the pond never goes dry.

Next stop on the walk is the Dunkan Causeway. While walking to the Dunkan Causeway we were reminded that we are walking on the reclaimed land, this the place where there was a creek and boats and ferries used to dock. The people living near the creek used to cross the creek for daily necessities (food, etc.), for which they needed to pay customs once the goods were unloaded on the Sion side.

Dunkan Causeway

Today though Dunkan Causeway has been renamed, the only sign of its erstwhile name is the sewage pumping station (of BMC). Inside the Dunkan Casueway we saw two milestones which states – “9 Miles from St. Thomas Church” and “7 Miles from St. Thomas Church”. Just for your ready reference St. Thomas Church is near Asiatic Library in South Bombay. It was near Asiatic library that the townhall was located and the Bombay milestone there showed Zero Miles.

Milestone

The road down from the Dunkan Causeway leads to Chunnabatti. Chunnabhatti is rightly named as it literally translated to limestone quarries in English. This was the place where many limestone quarries were located. It is also said that prisoners from nearby jails were bought here for work.

Just next to Dunkan Casueway there is a underground storage house where the ammunition were stored at the time of World War II. The structure is so strong that no one has been able to even drill a hole for fixing a light bulb or a water connection.

Ammunition Storage

Next and the last stop of the Walk was the very obvious – Sion Fort.

Inside Sion Fort

A small walk and we were at the entrance of the fort. The fort has been partially converted into a park with slides and simple exercise machines in place. On our visit we could see children playing and enjoying at the park.

Sion Fort

The Fort is an uphill climb with a beautiful view of the Bombay City. No wonder the British decided to make a fort at this point, as this fort shows an aerial view of the city and is the second highest point of Bombay (after Malabar Hill). In some parts of the fort you can see the architecture of the wooden slabs of those times.

View from Sion Fort

The fort is actually in a dilapidated form with various hearts and names scribbled on the walls. We also met two youngsters practicing street dance format on one side of the fort.

Post this we discussed about other prominent things in Sion which we can explore on our own namely:

Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, popularly known as Sion Hospital was started in 1947 with 10 beds and today boasts of more than 1400 beds. A medical college is also attached to the hospital and is one of the best govt medical college in Bombay (after KEM).

Gandhi Market is a popular market which predominantly caters to women Indian Wear. Gandhi Market is not very far from Sion Station and it was established around 1949-50 by refuges from Pakistan. Even today few shops are run by the family members of the refugees and will have lot of stories to share with you.

Shanmukanandan Hall – This is known to be one of the center pieces of theatre in Mumbai. It is one of the first theatres of Mumbai and boasts of a seating capacity of over 2000. It is also equipped with modern stage change equipment

With IHWF notepad & pen

And with this we came to the end of the highly engrossing heritage walk. I would like to offer sincere thanks to Ashwini Nawathe and Sahapedia IHWF for the efforts and time.

There are many walks being conducted in Mumbai and various other cities in India in the month of February. In case you are interested please go through their website www.indiaheritagewalks.org/