Erangal Village

By Anurag

Introduction

Mumbai is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in India, with numerous native communities, including the Kolis, Bhandaris, Aagris, Warlis, and Prabhus, who have called it home for over a millennium. The remnants of this distant past are evident in various forms, ranging from archaeological material, oral traditions, written texts, place names, and social-religious customs.

Numerous indigenous settlements pepper the city, thriving alongside its inhabitants for centuries with relatively unaltered socio-cultural mores. They stand as sentries of the native culture and traditions that have successfully held against the siege of modern urbanity, which has consumed the rest of the cityscape. Exploring these settlements transports one back to that bygone era of simplicity, where life appears to have persisted at a pace untouched by the outer world.

One such place in Mumbai's urban environs is the village of Erangal, situated on the Marve-Madh Road in the Malad suburb. Unlike its neighbouring Koli villages of Marve, Bhati, and Madh, Erangal is home to the Bhandari community, who, along with the Koli fisherfolk, are considered among the city’s earliest settlers.

History

Erangal's antiquity is evidenced by certain archaeological remains and its mention in the region's early medieval texts. One such text is the Mahikavatichi Bakhar, a 12th-century chronicle detailing the administrative setup of the contemporary Sashthi or Salcette island. The text assigns an administrator named Singhe Sheshvanshi to Erangal, referring to it as 'Yergan'. The title 'Sheshvanshi Kshatiya Bhandaris', which the present-day natives use to describe themselves, indicates a distant link to this administrator. The local Omkareshwar Temple, where the present-day villagers worship a Gai Vasru sculpture as a Nandi, serves as another testament to the village's historicity. Gai Vasru sculptures are found all over the native villages across Mumbai and date back to the 11th–12th centuries, during the reign of the Northern Shilaharas, the sovereigns of this territory, who ruled from their capital at 'Shristhanak', which is modern-day Thane. Dr. Kurush Dalal explains that the Gai Vasru sculptures represented land grants, with the cow symbolizing the grant, the calf representing the recipient, and the milk representing the benefit derived from the grant. [1] The Gai Vasru sculpture at Erangal is proof of such land grants to a local beneficiary from the regional sovereigns around the 11th–12th century AD.

In 1534, the Portuguese arrived in Sashthi and the seven islands of Mumbai after signing the Treaty of Bassein with Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, in which the latter ceded these territories to the former. The island's history entered the European era with the construction of the St. Bonaventure Church in 1575, marking Erangal as one of the earliest Portuguese churches in Mumbai.

History of the Bhandaris

The Bhandaris, one of Mumbai's indigenous communities, have played an active role in the city's history. According to RE Enthoven's The Tribes and Castes of Bombay, the Bhandaris likely arrived in Mumbai with Raja Bimba from Paithan. Around 1295 AD, Raja Bimba gained control of Mumbai with the help of the Bhandaris, who subsequently settled in numerous locations across the island city. However, the invading Islamic armies of the Delhi Sultanate eventually supplanted their power.

Upon the Portuguese's arrival in 1534, the Bhandaris assisted them in repelling the Muslim armies, and in exchange for their assistance, they had their ancestral rights reinstated. The Bhongle Sardars subsequently established a quasi-independent state of Bhandaris at Mahim. The Portuguese granted them the right to carry royal insignia and blow a long trumpet called Bhongulee during certain state occasions. The Britishers, who succeeded the Portuguese in Mumbai, also retained these rights of the Bhandaris.

The village

Mr. Sunil Thakur, president of the Erangal Village Residents Association, emphasizes that Erangal is one of only two villages in the Sheshvanshi Kshatriya Bhandari community in Mumbai, the other being the neighboring village of Aksa, or Aakshe, as it is known in Marathi. In Vasai, the community also lives in villages such as Nirmal, Gaas, Giriz, Manikpur, and so on.

He further mentions that the traditional boundary of Erangal village, referred to as ‘Mauje Erangal’ in administrative records, extends from the Dharavali bridge beyond Aksa village to the Madh church, and this territory is still considered to be a part of Erangal by the native communities.

Mr. Thakur explains that four families—Thakur, Mhatre, Patil, and Chaudhari—established the initial settlement of Erangal. To this day, only households with these surnames remain in the area. Historically, the village comprised approximately 80–100 houses, a number that has since grown to 200. These additional houses belong to the same four families, whose expanding members have constructed new houses within the hamlet.

The traditional occupation of the Sheshvanshi Bhandaris of Erangal was horticulture and toddy trapping, as surrounding Erangal were vast farmlands and palm trees, which the natives harvested for sale in larger markets. Mrs. Thakur recalled her grandmother's memory that the natives of Erangal were nearly self-sufficient in meeting their consumption needs, only requiring the purchase of oil and sugar from outside markets in Malad. Local farmers transported the abundant vegetable produce of Erangal via bullock carts to the Byculla market, a journey that lasted overnight. The leafy vegetables grown in Erangal were highly sought after in South Mumbai due to their exceptional quality.

British intervention

After 1939, when the Second World War began, the agricultural landscape of Erangal and its surrounding villages underwent significant changes. The British government requisitioned large swathes of land from the native communities to establish army and navy barracks. In anticipation of the Axis forces' seaborne invasions, the British government also constructed the Dharavali Bridge to facilitate the transport of tanks and other arsenals from the interior to the coast.

Consequently, the displaced local population migrated to Valnai, also known as Orlem, where they remained until the end of the war. The Indian government retained the territories acquired by the British government as defence land, which are now known as the INS Hamla.

Religious life

The religious life of Erangal is unique when compared to other villages in Mumbai, Erangal's religious life is unique. It is an entirely Hindu-populated village, with the most important landmark being the St. Bonaventure church. Built in 1575, this imposing structure honors St. Bonaventure. According to local accounts, before the church’s construction, a temple containing a Shiv Linga and Ganesh image stood at the site. The locals relocated both of these religious icons to a spot beside a nearby lake, where they remain today.

The Portuguese, with the help of native masons and craftsmen using indigenous building techniques, undertook the construction of the church. They used local basaltic rock to build the church, which they cemented together using a mixture of jaggery and limestone that strengthened in the saline air of the coastline. The church served as an active centre of the local Christian faith until 1739. After the Maratha forces conquered Sashthi, they halted regular services in the church and eventually abandoned it, but they continued to organise an annual feast there. In 1976, the parish priest of Madh Church oversaw the restoration of the ruins and reinstated regular religious services at the church.

St. Bonaventure was born in 1221 as Giovanni di Fidanza in Civita de Bagnoregio, Italy, and entered the Franciscan order in 1243. Pope Sixtus IV canonised him in 1482 after he served as the Bishop of Albano. The Franciscan priests who oversaw the construction dedicated the newly built church at Erangal to him, and it has remained integral to the local religious life ever since. The Bonaventure church's annual feast, known by the natives as Baravi chi Jatra or Baravi cha Sann, takes place every second Sunday of January. Sandeep Borges, the parish priest, explained that the name Baravi originated from its original celebration on the twelfth day after Christmas, with bara being the Marathi word for twelve. Over time, they fixed the date as the second Sunday of January. The festival holds significant importance for the East Indian community of Mumbai, especially the East Indians of western Mumbai, stretching from Vasai to Madh.

In the past, native Catholic families from distant villages would journey on bullock arts to Erangal to attend the Baravi chi Jatra. They would arrive one day prior and set up camps in the nearby fields and on the beach. After the eventful Jatra day, they would return to their respective villages. A Novena is held for nine days before the Jatra, and a special Missa, which is the colloquial word for Mass, is organised till 1:00 pm in Marathi, English, and Tamil.

Father Borges also stated that Bonaventure is considered the patron saint of the sick and infertile, drawing crowds of ailing people and couples seeking fertility blessings to the Baravi chi Jatra. Students have recently begun to venerate him as a savior for success in examinations. Father Borges shared his encounter with the saint, crediting his academic success to St. Bonaventure's grace. The church, considered an important pilgrimage site for Catholics, now attracts devotees from as far as Goa and Tamil Nadu.

An interesting aspect of religious syncretism is evident among the Sheshvanshi Kshatriya Bhandaris, who, despite being devout Hindus, have revered St. Bonaventure since the church was built. The Sheshvanshi Bhandaris perceive the saint’s image as the protector of their village; his raised hand towards the sea is believed to thwart any disasters approaching Erangal from the waters. Thus, they primarily venerate him as a guardian deity.

The native Hindu families also honour St. Bonaventure in their wedding rituals. During the wedding rituals, they offer a coconut to him as one of the important deities, and invoke his name in the Mangalashtaka, or the wedding officiating chants, to bless the new couple. Invoking the name of a Catholic saint in the wedding chants of a Hindu community may be a rare occurrence.

Mrs. Thakur shared another account passed down from her grandmother, recounting how, after the church’s abandonment by the local Catholics, native Bhandari families cared for the ruins, regularly cleaning the altar and the image of St. Bonaventure. When Catholics from the neighboring village of Bhati attempted to move the saints on a bullock cart, they were besieged by a swarm of wasps, which was interpreted as a sign that the saint disapproves of the image's relocation. Thus, the image was reinstated in its original place, where it has been venerated ever since. To this day, the Baravi Chi Jatra is organized and managed by the Sheshvanshi Bhandari community of Erangal.

Hiradevi, the gramdevta or presiding goddess of Erangal village, is indigenous to the Mumbai region and venerated by numerous native communities. Hiradevi also serves as the Kula Devta of many Sheshvanshi Kshatriya Bhandari families residing in Erangal and nearby Aksa. The goddess plays a pivotal role in the daily lives of the locals, and all the families seek her guidance, known as Kaul, before making any major decisions.

The unique combination of Hiradevi and St. Bonaventure dominates the spiritual landscape of Erangal village. The local Bhandari community has always believed that Hiradevi is the terrestrial guardian of their village, averting all problems coming through their land boundary, while St. Bonaventure serves as the aquatic guardian, warding off any disturbances coming from the sea.

Festive traditions

The Sheshvanshi Kshatriya Bhandaris are a devout Hindu community that proudly maintains numerous local customs and rituals. They celebrate all major Hindu festivals, each with its own unique customs. The Marathi New Year, Gudi Padva, is one of the most beloved celebrations, as it is also the beginning of the Hindu New Year. The Sheshvanshi Bhandaris have a distinctive tradition of erecting the festive Gudi. Outside their homes, they set a paat, or wooden plank, on which they place a kalash (urn or pot) filled with coconut and mango leaves. They insert a few coconut sticks into the Kalash's crown and erect the traditional Gudi atop it. They then collectively worship this twin setup in honour of Gudi Padva.

An important festival for the Sheshvanshi Bhandaris is the Deep Amavasya, also known as the Aashadh Amavasya or Gatari. Traditionally, households clean, light, and worship all oil lamps on this new moon night, which precedes the month of Shravan, as a gesture of gratitude for providing the family with light. In the modern age, with oil lamps becoming redundant and electricity emerging as the primary source of lighting, households in Erangal still uphold this ancient tradition by worshipping and garlanding their electric meter boxes, recognising them as the modern source of household lighting.

Nag Panchami, like all agrarian communities, holds significant importance in the Bhandari community's religious calendar. The Bhandari community's unique method of venerating the serpents involves drawing serpentine figures with sandalwood paste on a paat, then pouring and shaping rice into the previously drawn figures. They sprinkle lhaya, or puffed rice, on these drawings and present a naivedya (sacred offering) of milk. On this day, the preparation of Ukdiche Modak, a traditional delicacy, differs by using chana dal and jaggery for the stuffing instead of the usual combination of grated coconut and jaggery.

People also celebrate Gopalashtami with great pomp and religious observance. Traditionally, the entire household fasted throughout the day, symbolically marking the birth of Krishna at midnight by placing a small idol of the infant deity in a cradle and jointly rocking it. The Bhandari families offered a naivedya of curd to the infant Krishna at night, and did not prepare any rice items on this day. The Bhandari families used to erect a Dahi Handi near the Hiradevi Temple on the day of Dahi Kala, only to break it before noon. To date, all Dahi Handis in Erangal village have left before noon. After the breaking of Dahi Handi, the families used to break their fasts by worshipping Krishna again, offering Shrikhand as naivedya during the daytime. Following this pooja, every household enjoyed a lunch of Shrikhand Puri.

Like all Maharashtrian communities, Gauri Ganpati is an important festival for the Sheshvanshi Bhandaris. They traditionally celebrate the festival over five days. The Erangal families no longer practice the custom of offering a naivedya of crab curry to the deity. On the day of the Visarjan, dahi bhaat, or curd rice, is now offered to Gauri Ganpatia as naivedya to invoke their return the following year.

The most important aspect of Diwali for the Erangal natives is the Govardhan Pooja ceremony. Every household lays a paat on which they place five roundels of cow dung in a circular pattern. The Bhandaris then light a diya, or oil lamp, and place it in the center, symbolizing the Govardhan mountain. This festival was also significant in the past with regard to their livestock. Families would wash and decorate their cattle and feed them a meal of puranpoli. It was also a day of rest for the cattle, akin to the Bhandari equivalent of the Bail Pola celebrated across the rest of Maharashtra.

The Holi festival, colloquially known as Shimga, is one of the major celebrations for the Bhandaris of Erangal. Unlike the rest of the country, Holi festivities in Erangal begin on the second day of Mahashivratri, with village children creating and lighting multiple small Holi bonfires. The main Holi celebration in Erangal spans three days. People celebrate the first day as Kombad Holi and the second day as Rang Holi by applying colours to each other. The third day, Shimga, is the central event, marked by the lighting of the main bonfire.

In preparation for Shimga, the villagers erect a cutout mango or jamun tree in an open field near the village, referred to as Holicha Maidan, and decorate it with coconuts and flower garlands. The selection of this tree is a fascinating process, as the villagers volunteer to donate only old or dying trees from their farmlands to the village celebration. Additionally, a bamboo pole, locally known as a bet, is erected beside the tree or leaned on it. The Bhandaris believe this pole to be a representation of Pralhad, who sat on Holika's lap. This entire setup is ceremoniously set ablaze, signifying the end of spring and the beginning of the summer months.

Culinary heritage

Although the Bhandaris were traditionally an agrarian community, fish played an integral role in their diet due to Erangal’s coastal location. Locals constructed small bunds in the shallow coastal sea to trap small fish. To fish these bunded waters, they used an apparatus known as the Aakhat or Hath Gholva, a hand-held net fixed between two wooden poles. The flathead grey mullet, known as Boi, was an important catch and an integral part of the local diet. Another dietary staple was a rice porridge known as kaneri. People made Kaneri from the cracked granules left behind after milling the rice and consumed it for breakfast, dinner, and sometimes all three meals of the day.

Certain dishes are mandatory during the wedding ceremony, and some of them have rituals associated with their preparation. Traditionally, the day before the wedding, known as Gavritacha Divas, involved organizing a yagna outside the wedding household, using the flames to light the house chulha (stove). Vade, or fried bread, was the first item made after lighting the stove, which is the central item of wedding meals. Vaal Vangyachi bhaji, a curry from brinjal and sprouted beans, is another traditional recipe associated with Bhandari weddings. Dessert consisted of Ghavachi Shev, or wheat noodles cooked in coconut milk along with jaggery. This thali, comprising the Vade, Vaal Vangyachi Bhaji, and Ghavachi Shev, has been and still is the traditional wedding meal of the Sheshvanshi Kshatriya Bhandari community.

A dish known as shirode is a unique culinary legacy of the Sheshvanshi Bhandari community. It consists of hand-rolled rice noodles cooked in coconut milk along with sugar or jaggery. The community prepares and serves this traditional dessert at all significant social events.

Cultural heritage is a source of pride for communities around the world. However, not all groups have been able to preserve and nurture their cultural legacy in the face of modernity, often leading to the loss of these invaluable treasures. The Sheshvanshi Kshatriya Bhandaris of Erangal are among the rare communities cognisant of their rich historical and cultural legacy as one of the early settlers of our island city and have successfully maintained their cultural essence while seamlessly integrating with the modern world.

Footnotes:

[1] Aarefa, ‘In Mumbai’s nooks and crannies, researchers are uncovering 1,000-year-old fragments of history.’

Bibliography:

Karmarkar, Dipesh. ‘Understanding Place Names in ‘Mahikavati’s Bakhar’: A Case of Mumbai Thane Region.’ 2012.

Enthoven, R.E. The Tribes and Castes of Bombay. Vol. 1. 1922.

Johari, Aarefa. ‘In Mumbai’s nooks and crannies, researchers are uncovering 1,000-year-old fragments of history.’ 2017. https://scroll.in/magazine/847711/in-mumbais-nooks-and-crannies-reseachers-are-uncovering-1000-year-old-fragments-of-history. Accessed January, 2024.

Ranganathan, Murali, ed & trans. Govind Narayan’s Mumbai, An Urban Biography from 1863. UK. Anthem Press India. 2012.