Last Thursday, I had a mid-week holiday and that upset me very much. I am probably in a minority when I say that I hate mid-week holidays, but give me a long weekend, and I’m probably the happiest person on earth. But I digress from the theme of my blog post…
Shalini, a ‘teenagehood’ friend, had been saying for a long time that work and home routines were turning us into crabby old women, and something had to be done. So this mid-week holiday presented us with the perfect opportunity to do that ‘something’.
The outcome—a visit to the Bandra Fort.
The Bandra Fort or, to use its more impressive sounding official name, the Castella de Aguada was built by the Portuguese in 1640. It later passed on to the British, who lost it to the Marathas in 1739, and gained it back from them in 1761. You can read more about the Bandra Fort’s history here.
We reached Bandra Fort at around 9.00 in the morning. My first impression was that of diasppointment—the Fort looked unimpressive and the cemented fort walls, an obvious attempt at restoration, was enough to make me want to turn back! But then the calming sea breeze, the sound of waves, and bird song, charmed me into exploring the place a little more.
And I’m glad we did that, for this is what we saw once we got beyond the cemented walls:
By the time we left the Fort, an hour or so later, both of us were relaxed, happy and grinning from ear to ear. All in all two happy women, instead of crabby women. 😀
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Read about other Forts of Mumbai…
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tres bien. mumtaiz. great reading. bahut hi achcha. khoob bhalo:)
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Merci. Shukran. Dhanyavaad
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Wow, the place looks so peaceful. I went to Mumbai and actually missed this?!
You took beautiful pictures, specially the fourth one. Looks like it’s a resort. Thank you for sharing.
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Thanks. Do visit the Bandra Fort next time you’re in Mumbai. It’s worth it.
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wow, can’t believe this is mumbai. good to know.
the danger sign is classic.
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Thanks for your comments. I visited your blog earlier today. Loved the Thane pic.
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Hey Sudha, loved reading it. Beautiful. Great pictures. Keep writing!
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Cool. I have been visiting Bombay, sorry Mumbai 😉 for the last 20 years and I didn’t even know about this. Do u know of any more such hidden gems in this city? Have u written about them?
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Bombay, sorry Mumbai, 😉 has a lot to offer and unfortunately I haven’t really explored my beautiful city. But I intend to remedy that soon. Do keep visiting.
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wo sab to thik hai lekin ye snaps me no single person n i understand that is place of couples
fort pe curfew hai kya?
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Hi Sudha! It was a lovely piece though I guess it would have been interesting if you could have documented about the plinths which say that the fountains built by the Portuguese still exist and how they help the local washermen. 🙂 . On a recent trip, I also discovered that you can actually the remains of a fort in Mahim from the Bandra fort which depicted the distance between the Portuguese and the British.
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Delighted to see you here, Akshay. Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. And thank you also for telling me about the plinths—I wasn’t aware of them. And as for the view of Mahim Fort, I’ll just have to make a trip to Bandra Fort once again 🙂
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Your first post !!! Lovely ! 🙂
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Yes, my first post. And I’m glas I began with the Bandra Fort. It’s the only Fort in Mumbai that can be visited without wading through slums, encroachments and whatnot. Of course here one has to contend with fim crews !!!
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What a beautiful post to begin with. Bandra has always been my favourite suburb. Loved the photos es pecially the first one. It is sad that she is fast losing her quaint and charming cottages to modern multi-storied structures.
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Thank you, Neena. Bandra Fort came as a surprise for me. And this suburb continues to surprise me each time I visit it as a notice something of the past that has disappeared !
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A really amazing post to begin with, I must say!
There’s is so much to write about in Mumbai, and you choose this.
Love you photographs, makes me wanna visit it right now!
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Hi Ayesha, welcome to my blog and thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. Are you from Mumbai? Then you must go and to see the Bandra Fort. It is beautiful and the view of the sealink is quite something.
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Stumbled upon this while searching for things to do today- another mid week holiday for me. Nice post,cheers 🙂
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Welcome here, Gitanjali and thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. Glad you found this interesting. And if you’re exploring the area, try visiting the St. Andrews Church as well
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Need to visit it. Lived here all my life and have not visited it. Just two days back I visited Killeshwar Temple in Madh and could see the Madh Fort. But since it belongs to Air Force, we are not allowed to go inside. Then there is the Vasai Fort too which I need to visit. Now need to find out which were the other forts…thanks you have made me curious 🙂
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I have visited only Bandra Fort of the 8 surviving Forts in Mumbai. It’s sad that we cannot see the Madh Fort, but on the other hand if it had not been with the IAF, it might have been encroached upon. Check out this link for the other forts of Mumbai: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_forts_in_Mumbai
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Thanks for the link Sudha. I really appreciate the way you respond to each and every comment on your blog. Also like your varied interests. Books, Music and Travel are my interests too. Still have a lot to read on your blog. I stay at Madh. Do let me know if you ever drop in this side. Would love to meet you 🙂
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Loved reading about Bandra Fort which I still need to visit. Sion Fort is also quite good.
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Thank you, PNS. I have only visited Bandra Fort and have yet to visit Mumbai’s other forts.
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Thank you, PNS. I have only visited Bandra Fort and have yet to visit Mumbai’s other forts.
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