Bandra Fort
A post on Bandra Fort on Facebook regarding a photo walk caught my attention. Sadly, even though I am born and brought up in Mumbai I wasn’t aware of this fort.
I registered for the event but the Bandra Fort topic lingered on my mind. Rather than using Google to get my information, I love getting it from people so I asked many of my friends who travel or who live or are born & brought up in Bandra. Strangely no one knew about it.
When I finally used Google to find the place this is what Wikipedia stated – Bandra Fort also known as Castella de Aguada was built by the Portuguese in 1640 at Land’s End, Bandra.
The main purpose of the fort was to keep a watch on the surrounding areas (Mahim Island, Mahim Bay, Worli Island, and Arabian sea) and guard the Northern Sea route to Mumbai Harbour. After the decline of the Portuguese, the British broke it down so that the Marathas wouldn’t take it over. But in 1739 the island was invaded by the Marathas and it was then ruled by them till 1774 after which the British again gained possession of the area.
In 1830, the British donated a large part of the land including Land’s End, to Byramjee Jeejeebhoy, a philanthropist who established his residence on the hill where the fort is located, and the cape was renamed as Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Point. That’s about the history I got.
When we reached the destination I was in for a surprise. I expected the Bandra fort to be big a bit broken but in reality, it is a bunch of walls now and anyone visiting the place would barely know that once upon a time a fort existed there. I kept wondering how it must have looked before.
From the Fort, you can get a glimpse of the sea link. It is a beautiful spot for photography.
I hope my photo tempts you to go visit the place.
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I would have liked to see more photos of the fort or what is left of it
Hi,
I would have loved to do that but its difficult to capture the fort. Only an overhead shot would give you a glimpse of all that remains,
Regards,
Aditi