Bassein Fort aka Vasai Fort: Part 1

The heat in Mumbai was burning the city crazy 41 degree Celsius, so thinking of going for a trek was not a good idea, But a wanderer is a crazy soul so we find ways to hoodwink the obstacles and make ways to kill the monotony of the routine.

I find my succour at Vasai fort

Whenever I find nothing to do I simply go and visit the forts in Mumbai. So this time I thought I'll go to Vasai Fort. Nothing was planned I just packed my bag and took early 6 am train from Andheri to Vasai. It was 6.47 when I reached Vasai station and came out of the platform on to the West side.

Sun was just rising,
making my morning all the more beautiful

 There are lots of autoriskha which ply from Vasai railway station to Vasai fort. But then they cost you a bomb, 120 Rs and that too for a distance of  just 6-7 kms. I dropped the idea of taking auto and came little further out of the station and inquired about the buses going to the fort. Luckily the Bus stop is just 5 minutes walkable distance from the station. The bus arrived in 5 minutes bearing the board Killebunder on it.The bus ticket cost me only Rs 15. A bus ride of 20 minutes and I reached Vasai Fort. Meanwhile while travelling in the bus I called Femina who stays in Vasai  to join me if possible, to her credit she not only agreed but  reached the fort very quickly.

I got down at the Chimaji Appa Statue.

Statue of Chimaji Appa

Upon entering the premise you see a towering Statue of Chimaji Appa sitting on a horse which looks very imposing and awesome. 

Let me make you little wiser as to who was Chimaji Appa

"Shreemant Chimaji Ballal Peshwa (aka Chimaji Appa)(1707–1740) was the son of Balaji Vishwanath Bhat and the younger brother of Bajirao Peshwa of Maratha Empire. He was an able military commander who liberated the western coast of India from Portuguese rule. The high watermark of his career was the capture of Vasai fort from the Portuguese in a hard fought battle." 
(Source Wikepedia)

Look of the Statue from the entrance gate

Standing on this raised platform one can see the boundary wall of the Vasai fort at the far end. Nothing much more was to be seen here so I clicked few pictures and moved on.

At the jetty side of Vasai Fort

As I came out of this place I saw someone waving from the autoriksha, on closer look I realised it was Femina. She left the auto and from here both of us started to move towards the jetty or the sea side entrance of Vasai Fort.

One can see ruins of Vasai Fort church from the Jetty side

Vasai Fort had two entrances one was from the land side and other from the sea side.You can see ruins of one of the church from the jetty side. Talking about the pillars on top of St Joseph Church, one local fisherman folk had an interesting story to tell, according to him there is treasure in form of gold coins and jewels in that pillar and if anyone tries to rob it, that person gets bitten by the snake who guards it.( I love stories chaye kitni bhi sahi ya jhooti)😜😜😜

Is there a treasure waiting for me ?

We now started our journey of exploration of Vasai Fort aka Bassein Fort.

Bassein Fort / Vasai Fort / Baçaim Fort :

The name "Bassein" is the English version of the Portuguese "Baçaim" (with the "ç" spoken as "s" and with the "m" silent), itself a version of an apparently native name that may have a connection to the Vasa Konkani tribals of the North Konkan region, extending from Mumbai into "South Gujarat." The Marathi name of the place is Vasai.

The complete form of the Portuguese name is "Fortaleza de São Sebastião de Baçaim" or the Fort of St. Sebastian of Vasai. The Vasai fort is a monument of national importance and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (Source Wikipedia)



As we walked from the Jetty we come across a huge Entrance gate of the fort. 

Entrance of the fort from sea side

What I found disturbing was to see how easily a small temple has crept up near the fort door and it clearly looks like new structure, so I am wondering what the ASI are doing ( Isaw one blog dated 2014 when this structure was been erected).

The entrance door was completely damaged and the iron embellishing it was completely rusted.

Rusted and damaged Entrance door of the fort

upon entering this entrance door we come across another door on the right, we walked through it and I saw a temple on my left and a little walk further we come across the St Joseph Church.

Lekin hum, hum hai ! 
Seedha Rasta humko dikhta kum hai ! 

It so happened that I saw a stone stairs going up on my left to the remnant wall. I quickly climb up because I wanted to have  a glimpse of the sea from top of it and I also wanted to take a top shot of the Church.
Locals call this kind of erratic behaviour as Khujli 😜

Top shot of Sea

Once I reached the top of the remnant wall I realised the meaning of term Kabab me haddi when I ruffled the feathers of a human lovebirds. Kamaal hai ek kona bhi nahi choda.

A traveler tip : Next time when you venture at such isolated place make enough noise that the lovebirds are forewarned and they untangle themselves from their compact compromising positions. 😜😜

Rows of boats saluting the sun

Leaving them on one side Femina and myself we both started to click pictures of the lovely sea with rows of boat standing as if saluting the morning sun. The chirping of the birds were loud and clear, the hum of the sea waves electrifying. One of the best mornings viewed by me.

Femina and Myself taking one deserving selfie

We left the cosy couple behind and started to walk along the narrow remnant wall parapet.This walkway was hardly 3 feet wide and bottom must be 20 feet so we had to be careful because as they say nazar hati durgatna ghati So please Don't risk it  and chup chap go from route going from below only.

Walking on this narrow path offered me a bird eye view of St Joseph Church from behind.

Back View of St Joseph Church
from top of Remnant Wall of  Vasai fort

As I was still on top of the remnant wall, I took the opportunity to click the exterior of St Joseph Church.

The blown away top of the church and those mystical towers were beckoning me to come and explore St Joseph Church. We quickly got down the next available stone stairs which was descending down though it was broken but we risked it.

All this running around up and down took the wind away from my lungs for a brief while, So Guys I felt I needed a break.

I need a break here

Talking of break, I am pausing here for while and I will soon come with next part of this blog.


So If you like to see churches of Portuguese times,bell towers,those swanky arches and Engraved grave stones on which the dancers danced to the tune of bollywood songs. 

Stay tuned second part coming very soon.

Champaner Series | KEVADA MASJID | Part 4

After getting chased by the Buffalo at Iteri Masjid (click on this if you want read my earlier adventure).I started to move towards the next monument,which was Kevada Masjid. I had the google map opened on my phone so I knew how far I had to go. However to the credit of the administration they have put up the sign board for direction to Kevada Masjid. 

Signboard of Kevada Masjid 

  

All alone (as this was my solo trip) with only the silence of the wilderness I walked on and suddenly after few minutes of walk, I felt I saw a fleeting figure cross my path, my heart was in my mouth for a second. I was pretty sure that something has indeed whizzed past in front of me, so holding my breath and clinging to my camera I moved forward gingerly.

The lonely Trail

I could almost hear my heart thumping and I was cursing under my breath at my foolhardiness to venture out solo here. The thing in the bushes moved again and from the corner of my eyes I stole a glance and saw the figure! One look and I heaved a sigh of relief because it was a Peacock ! 

A little more walk and I had my first glimpse of this lovely Kevada Masjid.  

First Glimpse of Kevada Masjid

For me the most interesting thing was to see Mosque and a Cenotaph together in one enclosure.With my limited knowledge I always associated Mosque with Islamic culture and Chatris or Cenotaphs with Indian culture hence this was indeed something new for me.

The Cenotaph

I clicked these pictures from outside of the fenced compound and could see a lone caretaker sitting there. He saw me climbing the fence and was about to shout, but stopped when he realised that I was not jumping over it but only trying to get a good angle for my picture. I waved at him and asked as to where the actual entrance to the compound is. He pointed the direction and I came over to the main entrance.

Signboard at the entrance

As this Masjid comes under Champaner UNESCO world heritage site, I must say its very well maintained by the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India).When I reached the main gate surprisingly the gate was latched,but not locked hence I opened it to enter. I was wondering, that had I not seen the caretaker sitting under the Cenotaph, there was every possibility that I would have checked it out from outside the fence and gone away.

Just as one enters the compound, we see a gigantic Cenotaph but not before climbing few steps.next to the steps there is a water tank. But unfortunately it was fully dried up.

Stairs leading to the Cenotaph and the mosque

Kevada Masjid is a rectangular plan masjid with a double storeyed main prayer hall which was built during the reign of Mahmud Begda (1458-1511 AD).

Front of  Kevada Masjid

There are two minarets on either side of the central arched entrance which has intricate cravings where niches are filled with floral and geometrical designs.

Two minarets on either side of the central arched entrance

Imposing Minarets

There are windows on both the sides, next to the Minarets and these windows are provided with a designed brackets.

Windows on both sides of entrance

Intricate Carvings on pillars

Floral Designs

Bracketed balcony on the windows

Some more beautiful designs.

In its original form the mosque had three domes built above the prayer hall.

The largest central dome built above the prayer hall had collapsed.

Collapsed dome

but if you ask me, this collapsed dome was highlight of this Mosque, after all it gives you a fantastic angle to shoot the  photo 😍😍😍😍 . Believe me the photo shown below was one of the reason I was here 😃

In the prayer hall I saw this niche in the wall with floral design around it, Though I was in the mosque but the design had more of hindu culture.

Niche with floral designs

It was time to move out so I bid adieu to the Kevada Masjid but not before clicking few last pictures of the towering Cenotaph.

Towering Cenotaphs

My next destination was Nagina Masjid. Stay tuned for my next blog on that. Thank you for reading my blog 

Chal Rang De | Palette of colours

A youngster with a dream
400 people
120 houses 
3 days

Yes! Its time to do more now

Result: Explosion of colours which wipe out the drab, doomed,desolate slum into a colourful canvas.

Colourful canvas

I often travel in Mumbai metro from Andheri to Ghatkoper Metro Station and while passing through Asalpha on the way to Ghatkoper, one look outside and you see nondescript slums on a hillock.

Just imagine how this slum would have looked devoid of these colours

 You would have squirmed if someone asked you "Would you like to visit that slum" and naturally the answer would be Pagal Hai Kya.

And believe me someone took this Pagal hai very personally and showed the world what good Pagalpan ( madness) can do. 

Good deeds can bring smiles
# Chal Rang De

Ab hum bhi kam pagal nahi, socha chalo dekh kar aate hai, yeh holi ke alawa kon sa naya riots of colour chal raha hai.

All set to Explore this Riots of Colours

I was looking for an opportunity to go and visit this Asalpha Slum and feel the actual presence of being there.Luckily for me I saw Swapnil  and Parag putting out an event for the photo walk. Without giving it a thought I knew I was in.

Early Metro to Asalpha Metro Station

Imagine, It been last week of March and so much pending work,especially for an accounting guy like me.It was virtually impossible for me to go but as they say where there is a will, there is a way. So I left my house very early by 7.30 am and reached Asalpha metro station.No one from our group had arrived but as the time went by everyone started to trickle in. We all assemble at Gate no 1 and after taking a group pic started to move toward the foothill of this slum.

Group Photo time

We started our climb taking the stairs from near the Dhobhi Ghat and started to explore the different painting made on the walls of the houses of the people residing there.

lovely paintings outside the house walls

One more for photographer's sake

Our exploration took us through the narrow alleys.

Narrow Alleys

 Cramped but steep stairs was order of the day.

Cramped Stairs

 However the explosion of colours all around us made our day. We were all in a frenzy clicking pictures of the houses, people, surrounded buidings and even aeroplanes and what not 😆 

This is what I meant with What not 😆

It was 10 am when we finished our exploration and I quickly dashed to the Asalpha metro station from where I took the metro train and reached my office desk dot on time.

Boss lekin abhi Ramayan katam nahi hui...... Kyo ki the question remains Akhir me iske peeche Haat kiska tha, who painted the town red and why

Kiska Haat tha yeh karne me

Wont you like to know what was this Mission and who were the people behind it. 

Who coloured my walls ?

I am actually very happy that someone had this attitude of madness to think out of the box  and give new lease of life to damp, drub slum walls.

Out of the box thinking , Literally 😍

This constructive madness took a form of a drive, an initiative, which led to coming together of many youngster, corporate houses who changed the meaning of slum.... atleast for Asalpha.

Brought colour in the lives of people of Asalpha

A movement was born,"Chal Range De" with a mission to change the way the people will look at the slums. A brain child of  Dedeepya Reddy, in association  with Snowcem India,Mumbai Metro one, Fruitbowl digital and Co.lab.Oratory.Asia.

Brainchild to change the bland wall into  Colourful canvas

Explaining her motive behind picking up the brush to transform the city, Dedeepya Reddy writes on her official website "Colour the community,colour the hill,colour the entire area.Colour has the power to change. Some would say what difference can a colour make ? I believe it gives them sense of joy, an identity and hope that things are going to be okay.Small changes can make a huge impact.

A happy lot of people

If you ask me my opinion I felt it indeed had made a huge impact.I felt the residents were more receptive, more open and I could feel the happiness in their eyes. 

Colourful monogram of Asalpha

Project Chal Rang de was not all that easy. Imagine an army of youngsters marching toward your citadel armed with cans of paints and brushes in their hand. locals did had their apprehensive moments. Wondering as to why ? Why are they painting our walls, why with no benefits they are doing this and yet all this was overcome by the dedication of the youth brigade and which not only changed the colours of the wall but also changed the DNA of the people. This metamorphosis  brought in new sense of happiness, new sense of self esteem, new sense of belonging, which as I said earlier also, can be seen today in their eyes, in their receptiveness towards the strangers like us who were clicking their houses, their people. Their exuberant smile said all.

Indeed Chal Rang De was mission accomplished