Bandra - Mumbai's Walking Tour Through Time

The last time I visited Bandra was in 2007 and it was a motorcycle ride through this area. This time I took the opportunity to walk through this popular suburb of Mumbai, known for its trendy cafes, upscale restaurants, swanky bars and famous nightlife clubs and lounges. I never got the chance to experience this exciting part of the city but while watching an episode of Globe Trekker, one of their TV hosts/backpackers did a walking tour through Bandra; which intrigued me. During my trip to Mumbai in 2017, I made the effort to book a private walking tour, organized by Raconteur Walks Mumbai, to take me around Bandra and learn about its historic sites, popular locations and explore this exciting and thriving suburb.

**St. Andrew’s Church - Bandra, Mumbai, India**

At 8:30 am in a hot, sunny morning, I took an Uber to my meeting spot at St. Andrew’s Church. There I met my walking tour guide, Sunita. Mumbai’s history might not be as majestic as other parts of India, but Bandra is where the city’s foundation begun. Before the arrival of the British and Portuguese, Mumbai comprised of many swampy islands, inhabited by various Marati, “Koli” fishing communities. In 1534, the island of Salsette (one of these Mumbai islands), which included Bandra, came under Portuguese rule and in 1568, Bandra was assigned to the Portuguese Jesuits. As part of its evangelical mission, St. Andrew’s Church was built in 1575. For more than 400 years, the bells from this church have rung and have survived natural disasters, monsoon rains, invasions and other obstacles. That morning, I witnessed local worshippers congregating at this Church and sitting down on the wooden benches and kneeling down to conduct their morning prayers. Bandra’s Roman Catholic heritage remains till this day as many of its residents are followers of this faith. Outside the Church, within its courtyard, one can see many tombstones and memorials erected and some that have been in existence since the time of Portuguese rule.

We then proceeded through some alleys towards our next stop and on the way we passed by an area that used to be the fishing village of the historic “Koli” fishing community, when the Portuguese arrived. Many of the descendants of these fishing villages are Bandra locals; who are today devotees of the Roman Catholic faith and continue to live in this area. This alley in the bottom image is a walkway to the sea, where many members of this historic community used to take to capture their daily catch.

As we continued along the different alleys and roads towards our next stop, I noticed the various artwork, murals and colourful displays presented on different houses, bungalows and staircases. These artistic presentation have been recently displayed by artists throughout Mumbai and have become part of Bandra’s unique charm and identity.

One of its popular murals is painted along a stairway that one can find on social media, where influencers and regular Instagrammers have posted their pictures, while posing on these steps.

Along the alleys and roads of Bandra, lies many bungalows and estates with gated entrances and surrounding concrete walls. The architecture of these buildings were influenced by Bandra’s Portuguese heritage with a fusion of local designs.

Many of these bungalows have been built here for many years and we noticed many going through renovations and refurbishments. We came across one bungalow going through roof repairs, with the Star of David shown on its front entrance. Our tour guide, Sunita, mentioned that this part of Bandra we were walking through is resided by some of Mumbai’s prominent Jewish community, who settled in the city when the British took control. Mumbai’s Jews have historically prospered as merchants and their presence in Bandra can be felt with the establishment of their uniquely designed residences and buildings.

We then came across another one of Bandra’s iconoic sites, The Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount/Mount Mary Basilica/Mount Mary Church. This basilica was built and rebuilt on several occasions between 1570 and 1904. The basilica houses the statue of Our Lady that was brought in the 16th century by Jesuit priests from Portugal; however, in 1700, Arab pirates cut off the right hand of this statue believing it held a gilt-lined object thinking it was gold. In 1760, the church was rebuilt and the statue was substituted with the statue of Our Lady of Navigators from St. Andrew’s Church. This statue has a fascinating legend as it is believed that a local Koli fisherman had a dream that he would find a statue in the sea and later found one floating off the shores of Bandra. For this reason, thousands of pilgrims visit this Basilica from the diverse faiths that make up Mumbai.

**Mount Mary Church - Bandra, Mumbai, India**

My mother used to tell me that her Catholic friends would take her, along with their family, on Christmas Eve for midnight mass. Thousands would flock to this basilica on this day to pay their respects, light a candle and make a wish on this auspicious occasion. This basilica is also famous for the Bandra Fair that starts on the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the first Sunday after September 8th (birthday of Virgin Mary) and followed by a week-long celebration and visited by thousands of people.

From here we proceed to our next stop, The Bandstand Promenade or what locals like to call “Bandra Bandstand.” This is a walkway path along the seashore and a popular spot where one can find locals jogging, walking or just hanging out and taking in the cool breeze from the sea.

I asked Sunita about a site on Bandra Bandstand that I saw on an episode of Globe Trekker; where one of their TV hosts visited the Bollywood “Walk of the Stars” installation. This was a site with statues and plaques honouring Bollywood stars. There was also a wooden bench with a sitting statue of the legendary actor, Raj Kapoor; which I was hoping to take a pic with.

However, my Google maps led me to the spot below with no site of this installation. Having looked online about the status of this project, I read that Disney had acquired UTV; which funded and privately managed the Walk of the Stars installation and decided to cancel and uninstall it for no reason.

Despite my disappointment, we continued to stroll along the Bandra Bandstand walkway path and cool off a bit from our long walk.

**Bandstand Promenade/Bandra Bandstand - Bandra, Mumbai, India**

Despite my disappointment, Sunita realized I was a Bollywood fan and took a detour from the walking tour route and led me to “Mannat”; which is the residence of Bollywood King, Shahrukh Khan. This uniquely designed estate, surrounded by a gate and guarded by security all over the compound, is regularly visited by fans taking pics and selfies and even some doing his infamous pose. We even buzzed the front security to ask if we can meet “King Khan”, however, he was out of town for filming.

**Residence of Shahrukh Khan a.k.a. “Mannat” - Bandra, Mumbai, India**

Bandra is home to many Bollywood stars and Sunita mentioned that not far from Mannat is Salman Khan’s residence. She also mentioned that the legendary Mehboob Studios is also located in Bandra.

From here we proceeded to our final spot of the walking tour, the Bandra Fort a.k.a. “Castella de Aguada.” It was built by the Portuguese in 1640 as a watchtower overlooking Mahim Bay, the Arabian Sea and the southern island of Mahim. The fortress lies over several levels, from seal level to an altitude of 24 meters (79 ft). The fort’s name indicates its origin as a place where fresh water was available in the form of a fountain (“Aguada”) for Portuguese ships cruising the coasts in the initial period of its presence. The fort was later handed to the possession of the Marathas and later to the British during the First Anglo-Maratha War.

Presently, Bandra Fort reamins a popular spot visited by locals and tourists; which now sits at the ends of Bandra Bandstand. One can also see young people hanging out in this area and even couples hidden in certain parts and getting intimate.

At the end of Bandra Bandstand, one can also see the recently built Bandra-Worli Sea Link from the many lookout points along the seashores. This Bridge connects Bandra in the Western Suburbs of Mumbai with Worli in South Mumbai. The purpose of the construction of this bridge was to decrease travel time from these two points and ease traffic and congestion in Mumbai’s main highways. This is also a great spot to capture a photo with this iconic bridge; which has now become a symbol for Mumbai.

**Bandra - Worli Sea Link - Bandra, Mumbai, India**

This marked the end of my Bandra walking tour. As I thanked Sunita for guiding me on this unique experience through Mumbai’s historic suburb, there was still one more visit on this tour I had to make.

Since I came all this way to Bandra, I had to check out the “Bollywood Art Project.” I heard about this artistic project on that same Globe Trekker episode that inspired me to visit Bandra. The TV host of that show hung out with a few artists who were part of the project and painted a mural with him at a residence in Bandra. I looked up some blogs online and found a few spots with famous murals from scenes in Bollywood films. This got me to halt down an auto rickshaw and take me to an intersection uphill from Bandra Fort.

The auto rickshaw driver brought me to this mural honouring a scene from the epic film, “Anarkali.” The artist, Ranjit Singh, painted this mural and marked the beginning of the Bollywood Art Project. This mural is located near Duke’s Restaurant, in front of Narona Store on Chapel Road, Bandra.

This mural above is of Nawazuddin Siddiqi from the film, Manjhi - The Mountain Man. The story of this film is based on a true story of a man from Bihar, India; who breaks through a dangerous mountain with a chisel and hammer. This mural is located in front of the Imbiss Restaurant on Waroda Road, off Hill Road in Bandra.

Everyone told me that I should return in the evening to experience Bandra’s nightlife; however, this was not possible due to my cousin’s wedding festivities held during that week. Despite missing out on the hype of Mumbai’s popular and talked about nightlife, I still enjoyed this walking tour through Bandra and learning about its history. The rule of the Portuguese is long gone but their presence and influence is well felt through its architecture, religion, food and culture. Bandra itself has evolved over the years with the emergence of its hipster cafes, famous nightclubs, popular shopping districts, Bollywood presence and high end real estate developments. This definitely is a place where the old fuses with the new and the recent construction of the Worli-Bandra Sealink is an example of progress and growth of Mumbai as a whole and efforts made to connect Bandra with the rest of the city. Overall, this walking tour was an excellent way to experience and learn about the heritage of Bandra and highly recommended for any traveler planning on visiting Mumbai in the future.

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