IC Colony lies tucked away from the bustle of Borivali, nestled on a gentle mound overlooking the rest of the northern suburbs. Known for its genteel ways and the large population of the Roman Catholic community, it is one of the neighbourhoods that makes me nostalgic. For, my association with the neighbourhood goes
back to my school days. Back then, we would take the BEST Bus Number 206 — the lifeline of IC as it is known — to reach the grounds of St. Francis D’Assisi to play interschool football or for the Annual Day rehearsals that my school — Our Lady of Remedy — used to host every alternate year in these sprawling grounds.
We travelled from Poinsur to Mount Poinsur — the part of the colony that houses the ground. Naturally, I grew up to identify IC Colony with the school sports meets and a lovely restaurant that my father would take us to — The Nest. The restaurant has long since shut down and I passed out of school 12 years ago but I find myself drawn to this part of Mumbai quite often. Over the last few years, I have ended up walking and cycling about its lanes with friends and sometimes by myself. What has brought me now and again back to this quaint neighbourhood is its history. For, at the foot of the Mount lies an ancient cave complex, which can be dated to over a millennium and some more. The Mandapeshwar caves were carved between 6th-8th CE straight out of the basaltic rocks of Salsette or Sashti, the major island that comprises the modern day northern suburbs of the city.
Natraja caves |
These caves were built by a Shaivite cult, as the sculptures of the Nataraja in one of the caves to the headless Nandi carved right in front of the central cave indicate. They bear striking resemblance to Elephanta and Jogeshwari caves. Some historians have interpreted the Nataraja panel to be the wedding of Shiva and Parvati. An empty niche in another panel surrounded by sculptures of various devotees suggests the presence of Lakulisha — an incarnate of Shiva. Though active worship has resumed at the caves, a cross carved out on the left side of the entrance to the caves makes one wonder about the metamorphosis the caves must have undergone.
The years from 1535 to 1739 when the Portuguese took possession of Bassein and all the 16 islands to its south — can be marked as the beginning of Roman Catholicism in Bombay. And Mandapeshwar became the base of missionary activity in Salsette, notes Sidh Daniel Losa Mendiratta of the Bombay Before British project writing in an article titled Uncovering Portuguese Histories Within. Around 1544, under the guidance of Friars Antonio Do Porto and João De Goa, the Franciscans built a church — Nossa Senhora da Piedade or Our Lady of Piety and a monastery to train young local converts which was called Colégio Real de Manapacer (Royal College of Manapacer). The Portuguese referred to the village as Manapacer or Mont-Pezir. Around the 1630s, a large swathe of the local populace was converted to Christianity and the church was renamed as the Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception — a name it carries till date and also lends it to neighbourhood, while the ruins of the monastery still stand solemnly over the caves.
Various colonial travellers to the caves have described it as a chapel converted with plaster coated pillars replete with paintings of saints on the walls. There is also a mention of a wall that was constructed to cover the panels showcasing the Hindu gods. While some records indicate that this was used as a crypt for the church, most of the evidence points to it being a chapel. The Bombay Gazetteer records show that it was indeed converted into a church complete with a wooden image of Mother Mary. In 1739 when the Marathas took over Bassein, they restored the caves back to their original form but destroyed the monastery. The ruins on the top of the caves speak of the scale at which the monastery operated. Accounts of the caves being used as a site for worship of the Catholic community abound after the takeover of the Maratha territories by the British in the early 19th century, especially after the roof of the church collapsed and it went into a state of disrepair. However, it was restored in 1888 and the renovations were carried on until 1912 — when the church got its first vicar.
St. Francis school |
Across the church, up the mount behind the St. Francis school that lends the neighbourhood its name, stands another structure which many folks including the locals seem to overlook. Hiding in plain sight is the Marian Sacromonte, wrongly classified as the Watchtower by various authors and authorities including the Archaeological Survey of India. Built in the middle of the 16th century, it is a conical structure located 20 feet atop the knoll, overlooking all of Salsette including the hills of Kanheri to the east, a statue of Jesus with outstretched arms stands at the apex. It is a chapel with seven niches carved inside of it. A truly unique structure, it now stands tall in the complex behind the school which also is the site of a graveyard for the members of the brotherhood known as the Monastorial Cemetery.
Visitors to this solemn site will notice the memorial that describes the work of Fr. Porto and informs us that he was buried upon that very hill. One also may notice the grave that lies to the centre, which belongs to Bro. Paulus Moritz. Born in 1869 in Prussia, he arrived in Salsette in the early 20th century. He established the Society of the Congregation of Franciscan Missionary Brothers which till date runs various educational institutions in the neighbourhood as well as across the world. The St. Francis D’Assisi school was started in 1908.
As the evening progresses the daily mass is held at the church and the sound of the choir singing floats through the lanes while down below a bhajan mandal sings in the caves. And even as the sun sets over Salsette, the syncretic nature of this neighbourhood shines through.
