Beef Vindaloo at Bombay Meri Jaan!

Courtesy lorem ipsum ‏@loremipsum666  

Guess who were my best friends in Mumbai? Indeed, how would you know!

They were Cookie, Dina, Oscar, Anu and Rinky.

All of them lived very near my home and during the school days, I visited them often. 

You might now like to ask me the reason?

Ask any foodie like me, and the reason can be only be one, that being exotic lunches:

Good Times – wine, music and merriment which went on through the year, reaching feverish pitch just before Christmas and peaking on January 1^st every year.

Check out more Beef Vindaloo on Twitter. Click HERE

And They Came From Portugal To Bandel

The Port at the Ganga

Inside the Church

Our Lady Of Bon Voyage

The high Tower at The Bandel Church

“The story of Bandel Church begins with the first Portuguese settlement in Bengal. The exact date when the Portuguese first established themselves in Bengal is not known. But historians agree that it was arounf 1537 an Admiral Sampayo entered the river Hoogly with nine Portuguese vessels to support Mahamud Shah, the Pathan Nawab of Gaur, who was hard pressed by the famous Sher Khan, had asked the Portuguese representative in Goa for assistance. As a reward, the Nawab had allowed the Portuguese to set up a factory at a spot close to the present Hoogly Jail.

In 1579 the Portuguese constructed a port on the bank of the river Hoogly. Both the port anf the factory became a center of commerce. To protect their interest, the Portuegese also built a fort. Portuguese conquests always went hand in hand with the spreading of the Gospel. They secured the services of the Augustineian Friars, the largest religious body in Goa at that time and around 1590, about 11 years after they set up Port, a ceratin Captain, Pedro Tavares, a favourite of Emporor Akbar, obtained from him the permission to preach the Christian faith publicly and to erect churches for public worship.

In 1599 a monastery was established at Bandel a mile from the factory. It was shortly followed by two others. A military chapel was added at the ort and an alms-house for the poor was also established, which served as an educational institution where the rich and poor alike received Christian education.

However, in 1622, Prince Harun (Emporor Shah Jahan) revolted against his father Jehangir and asked the Portuguese Governor at Hoogly, Michael Rodrigues, to help him with men and artillery, which he refused. Shah Jehan ascended the thrown in 1628 and began his revenge against the Portuguese. On charges of insolence and oppression, the Emperor gave permission to the Moghul Subedar of Bengal to exterminate the Portuguese. The Subedar laid siege of the Fort and fought a difficult battle with the Portuguese, finally to win over them only because one of Portuguese officers betrayed its own side.

On June 24, 1632, at the feast of St john the Baptist, while everyone attended the service, the enemy having got to know the secret entrance to the Fort, set fire to the arsenal, took possession of the arms and then blew up the fortification. The panic stricken people were massacred. The Governor, was captured and burnt alive and over 4000 men, women and children were made PoW and taken away to Agra, the then capital of the Moghul Empire. All the churches and buildings were razed to the ground. Only the Bandel monastery was spared. Of the five Augustinian Friars made captive only one, Father Joao da Cruz was spared. The aged father, went about his life preaching his faith enraging the Muslims and finally the Emporor who had in fact asked the father to appeal to his people to covert to Islam, was ordered to be bundled with his people and thrown to beasts. However, the execution which was a great Darbar failed as the animals set upon the Christians pacified with their prayers and instead carried Father da Cruz on the back of the biggest elephant and took him to the Emporor and bowed before him!

Taking this as indication of Divine intervention, Father da Cruz and his team sent back to Bandel and presented 777 bighas of land in the Bandel village surrounding the monastery. It is father da Cruz who now started to rebuild the church from its ruins.

The Centre of attraction of this church of the statue of Our Lady of Bon Voyage on the top most part of the façade.”

Presently, a community of Christians live around the Church. But the cultural inheritance of the Portuguese is absent, except for a few houses and in my eyes, much subdued and therefore sad, as unfortunately, in reminds us of this fact that in many parts of India, which has been the home for many dynasties and rulers, the new has grown only when the old was destroyed.

Leaving us with only one conclusion – perhaps the only integrated whole, is the human being, who is a little bit of everything collected from the place of its birth to its place of education and work to its place of death – a little of everything!

Hence, when people ask me if I am a Chistian or a Hindu, a Bengali or Chinese, indeed even a Punjabi(!), all I do is laugh. You must too.

Getting There:
State: West Bengal
Nearest city: Kolkata
Bandel Local Train from Howrah Station, Kolkata, West Bengal.
Take an Autorickshaw from the station to the church. Fare Rs 150 return.


Writer Sarat Chandra's House in Bandel

Vidyasagar lives on in the village girls going to school

....and he who takes us around

Mango grove on the way to Sarat Chandra's house

Source: Historical Sketch, The Prior, Bandel Churh, Hoogly P.O, West Bengal, Pin: 712 103

Vasai Fort - Reminiscence Of Our Heritage

Before you go on to read CLICK HERE for awesome photos

Decadence is a state of mind. So is indifference. It is indicative of a carelessness for which there are no excuses.

Recently, we came across the same state of affairs when we were faced with the challenge of The Taj Mahal losing its status as a world heritage sites because of the state in which it was due to Indian Government’s attitude towards it. The world’s most beloved site that is a living example of what a man’s love for a woman can be! But for the government of India, it is of no concern.

Not in the same league and yet, a definite part of our history as India, the vasai Fort is only one such examples of indifference. I am sure many will say at this point, Vasai Fort? Where? What?

Here is the answer to these questions.

Vasai or Bassein as it used to be called earlier, is a station which falls in the western railway track if you are to travel from Churchgate station in Bombay to Virar. The fifth station after Borivali towards Virar, it was under the Portuguese who conquered it via Gujarat and ruled there from 1534 – 1739. The Fort there covering 110 acres of land, out of which about 88 acres and 38 gunthas is under the Archaeological Department of India. In 1739, Vasai fell in the hands of the Marathas and flowing that, in 1818, Vasai along with other territories was conquered by the British to form the Bombay Presidency. The area covering the Fort was declared protected area under the provision of Section 3 of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act VII of 1904. Alas, despite this the Fort is in a state of dilapidation.

In the years of its glory, it could have been a fort lifted from Europe and put at Bassein, with the torrential rains of the Konkan and the roaring waves of the Arabian sea, kissing and caressing its walls, it might have been that royal beauty mixing and passionately bathing in the waters of the sea. But had she mingled too much and allowed the sea to break her, was she too close for too long, unprotected and forever submissive to the growing relationship she had with the sea, that finally broke her? We do not know, but we do know that not even the Government of India was able to protect her from her deadly relationship with the Arabian Sea, which if it did care it could have done, if it really wanted to. Alas! Only a skeleton remains of the ‘Classic Bacaim’. Yet, even in its broken state it still continues to attract visitors, artists and photographers alike.


A brief history of the fort:

Initially the Muslim rulers began to construct a fortress in 1532

The Portuguese fought with them, conquered the fortress on 20th January, 1533 and destroyed it the same evening

During the period 1590 – 1600 the Portuguese put up a rampart wall around the ‘Portuguese township’ which is now commonly called the Vasai Fort.

“They began erecting another fortress (Citadel) on 20th Junuary, 1535 on that very spot as by that time all the land-transactions were completed by the Bahadur Shah of Gujarat and Vasai, along with other villages were duely handed over to the Portuguese. These so called villages were Salsette, Bombaim (Bombay), Parel, Vadala, Siao (Sion), Vorli (Worli), Mazagao (Mazgao), Thana, Bandra, Mahim, and Caranja. . At the end of 17th century Bassein reached the height of the prosperity. From 1611, Bassein and the whole region under the Portuguese had a mint or "Casa da Moeda". These old coins were found occasionally during digs and were locally called "Firgi paisa".*

“In February 1739, Chimaji Appa attacked Bassein and after a desperate resistance on 16th May 1739 the Portuguese signed surrender. The Portuguese lost eight cities, four chief ports, twenty fortress, two fortified hills, the island of Salcete (Salsette) with the city and the fortress of Thana, the "Ilha das Vaccas", the island of Karanjà (Juem), and 340 villages. They left Bassein on 23rd May 1739. After 205 years of uninterrupted Portuguese rule, Bassein was progressively neglected, and the neighboring English Bombay assumed importance in trade and commerce. In 1801 in Poona (Pune), Jaswant Rao Holkar rose in rebellion with a huge army and defeated the combined armies of Daulat Rao Sindhia and Peshwa Baji Rao II and captured the city of Poona. Peshwa Baji Rao took refuge in Bassein. The defeated Baji Rao had no hesitation in accepting the Subsidiary Alliance with the British and signed the Treaty of Bassein with East India Company on December 31, 1802. In May 1803 Baji Rao II was restored as Peshwa under the protection of the British. The treaty of Bassein eventually led to expansion and influence of the East India Company over the Indian subcontinent.” **
At one time there were in Vasai as many as 2500 Portuguese, many of them Doma persons who had been granted titles of nobility by their Royal Masters, The King Of Portugal. Therefore Vasai at that time was called ‘Dom Bacaim’. During the take over of Vasai, by the Marathas it is believed the 800 Portuguese soldiers died in the battle Of Vasai lead by 22,000 Marathas. On 16th May, 1739, the Marathas hoisted their saffron flog declaring their victory over the Portuguese. As far as the 800 who died in the battle their bones were found in the tank in the fort area, cremated in Hindu style.

The Vasai Fort houses seven churches inside which are of Dominican, Jesuit, Augustinian and Franciscan origin and the Ganesh Temple.

In 1917, The Government of Bombay by its Notification # GM407-G.D dated 22/01/1917, declared the fort area as a protected area under the provision of section 3 of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Acts VII of 1904.

It is for us to ensure that places which are a part of what we call our Indian heritage, is preserved lovingly, because we are what we are, because of what we have shown the world always – we are a hospitable country and not a hostile one. We have a large heart to accommodate all.

Fast Facts
State: Maharashtra, India
City: Bombay ( Mumbai)
Location: 50-km North Of Mumbai
Formerly Known As: BasseinAttractions: Vasai (Bassein) Fort, Aagashi Jain Mandir, Arnala Fort, Chinchoti Waterfalls, Holy Christ Church
Best Time To Visit: October To March


Getting There
Local Fast train from Churchgate to Virar. Get off at Vasai Road. Come over to the western side of the station and take an Autorickshaw to Vasai Fort. Full Auto only drop Rs 60 - 80/ Share avoidable.You can also get busses from outside the Vasai Station to Vasai Fort starting as early as 5 am – past midnight. However, for the first timer, auto is the preferred mode of communication.



Source: A visit To Vasai Fort by Father Francis Correa, Papari Church, Vasai West, Distt Thane Pin 401202 Tel (from outstation) 0520-2322803; (from Bombay) 95250-2322803; Father Francis Correa Mobile 09325631274

Please note: Father Francis Correa is a scholar and authority on this subject. He has other books too written on this fort.

* & **: http://www.travelchacha.com/cities/maharashtra/vasai.html