City’s oldest residents spark a cultural revival
MUMBAI: Centuries before the city got the Gateway of Mumbai, BKC’S skyscrapers, snaking metro lines and expressways, it was home to an Indian Christian community considered the original inhabitants of Bombay, Salcette, Thana and Raigad. They lived in gaothans scattered across the city, and were known for the fascinating diversity of their food, clothes, traditions and dialect.
Today, except for a few in Kurla, Khotachiwadi and Matharpacady, these gaothans — and their culture — are disappearing. But, a legal battle by the community to get the gaothans marked in the city’s Development Plan 2034 — and save it from being wiped out — is also sparking a movement to revive declining traditions. On May 5, Kurla’s Holy Cross Church celebrated its 439th anniversary, and the Kurla (formerly Coorla) gaothan was decked with festive lights.while the church’s history had been documented, little was known about the village. “The need to build a church, in fact, was because there was a gaothan here,” said Father Milton Gonsalves, a member of the community who wrote a book on the early days of Coorla. The origin of the East Indian community dates back to the 15th and 16th centuries, when Portuguese missionaries converted members of the local farming, fishing and salt-making communities to Roman Catholicism.
“We have records of gaothans flourishing along the Mithi river. Priests from Bandra churches would cross Mithi to offer services here,” he said. In January this year, the Mobai Gaothan Panchayat, among the groups working to preserve traditions, released a dictionary of 2,000 words of the East Indian Marathi dialect, with categories such as weddings and celebrations, food, and religion — to create a database for the community’s young. Their cuisine got a boost after the city’s first East Indian restaurant opened in a Vile Parle.
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