A holiday in the middle of the week and what better way to spend the evening than to visit Castella De Aguada....
Ahhh well, I am not talking about some exotic far off location, I am talking about the Bandra Fort, which was originally called Castella De Aguada.
After the Portuguese defeated Bahadur Shah of Gujarat in 1534, they went about securing their territorial posessions along the western coast and many forts and fortresses were built. The Bandra Fort was built by the Portuguese in 1640 as a watchtower overlooking Mahim Bay, the Arabian Sea and the southern island of Mahim. During the Portuguese rule, it was armed with seven cannons and other smaller guns as defence.
The name, Castella De Aguada, indicates its origin as a place where fresh water was available in the form of a fountain (Aguada) for Portuguese ships cruising the coasts in the initial period of Portuguese presence.
After the Portuguese ceded the seven islands of Bombay that lay to the immediate south of Bandra to the British, the British faced a new threat from the Marathas - the British were afraid that the Marathas would capture the fort and use it as a launchpad for attack on the British possessions - the areas we know as South Mumbai today. To prevent such attacks, they partly destroyed the fort.
We entered the fort moments before sunset....
The fort was teeming with people enjoying the long weekend...
This is what Mumbai is.... the Bandra Worli Sea Link right beside the fort... the old thrives with the new, or rather the new grows around the old...
Interesting silhouettes...
Finally, sunset time....
The cloud behind us was glowing in the warmth of the setting sun with occasional streaks of lightening....
Finally the sun set over the horizon and that's when I got a bit poetic...
The cloud behind us changed its shape and lightening intensified...
Overall, an interesting evening spent at Castella De Aguada....
1 comment:
There are so many good forts in India which can be maintained and kept as a tourist attraction.
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