Hidden Charms

Tuesday’s excursion was called “The Hidden Charms of Old Mumbai” and we did indeed discover some of Mumbai’s hidden charms. Our tour guide’s name was Rupa. 

Rupa

We drove to a part of the city that is occupied by some small bungalows right in the heart of the city, with the skyscrapers in full view in the background. This is the Catholic section of Mumbai, and was originally settled by the Portuguese who had brought Catholicism to this part of India. We walked down some narrow streets and alleyways and enjoyed the charm of this little enclave. The streets were very colorful and brought a lot of character to the area, as the bungalows were red, yellow, blue, pink, etc. It was also much quieter than the surrounding area of bustling crowded streets, and where horns were blowing constantly - a peaceful respite. Rupa said that the bungalows were about 200 years old. She said that this is “prime land” and lamented that the bungalows probably wouldn’t be here much longer, as developers want to get their hands on this land and turn it into more skyscrapers or shops or something more profitable.

 

After walking around and taking pictures, we stopped for a visit at a house owned by a gentleman, James, who hosted our Viking group. He showed us around his house, invited us to the gift shop upstairs, and then treated us to snacks and refreshing cold drinks. James was obviously Catholic as there were crucifixes and other Catholic items in his house.

 

James

Colorful gift shop in James' house

After we left James’ house, we continued walking along among the bungalows. Some of the alleys became a little more mixed, with some Hindu’s houses alongside the Catholics. After awhile, we made our way back to the bus. Once on the bus, we went to the section of town where the Hindu temples are located. We walked down the narrow streets, enjoying the ambiance of the street vendors – lots of fruit stands – and the sights and sounds and smells of Mumbai. We approached a Hindu temple and Rupa told us we wouldn’t be able to go inside the temple because a service was taking place. I was expecting a nice-looking church like building, but instead the temple was actually just an open doorway that you could just casually stroll into from the street. We walked inside and there were four or five different rooms, but walls only half way up so you could stand in one place and see into all the rooms. The room that was actually considered the temple, the one we were not allowed to enter, was easily viewable from the place where we stood. We could see everything that was taking place due to the walls only being waist high. Apparently someone’s father had died, and so he was sitting on the floor, with two or three other people, with a ton of food in front of him, all part of the service, I’m sure. I think he was offering the food to his deceased father, or maybe to the god (or gods) to appease them. Just not sure what was going on. I’m not trying to ridicule the Hindu faith, just trying to explain what was going on, as we saw and understood it.

 

We continued walking, and as we walked, we saw little statues in nooks and crannies here and there. Apparently, they place their statues in front of their homes and businesses and people stop in front of the statues and either worship, pray, or seek enlightenment. Rupa kept telling us that we were going to the really big temple, the most important temple in Mumbai, a temple of the god Shiva. We again were expecting to see a large, impressive looking building, like a Cathedral, but again, it was a building nestled in and amongst the houses on the street, with an open-air front. The exterior walls were only three or four feet high and you could easily see into the temple area from the street. There was an outer area that wrapped around one side with concrete floors, almost like a big porch, and an inner small room straight ahead from the doorway opening, supposedly where the god resided. It is into this inner sanctum that Hindus go when they go to temple.

Main temple

 

Inner sanctum

We were curious about some things regarding the Hindu faith, like do they have a certain day of the week when they come together for communal worship, like we do on Sundays. Joe asked Rupa about this, about when Hindus go to temple, and she said “whenever they feel like it”. So it doesn’t sound like there is any communal worship. Someone just goes into a temple and sits in front of the god inside of that temple, and they seek enlightenment.

We also passed a large pool or reservoir that was fed by a natural spring and that was believed to be sacred waters, and people would go down into the water and seek healing or answer to prayer or something. 

Along the street we passed a few cows that were just hanging out. 

We also just enjoyed some of the sights of this very unique corner of India which indeed contains some “hidden charms”.

They take their security seriously here.

Sunset on the Arabian Sea