Ambarnath is a city and a municipal council

Municipal council

A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...

 in Thane district

Thane District

Thane is a district in northern Maharashtra state in western India. As of 2011 it is the most populated district in the nation. The headquarters of the district is the city of Thane. Other major cities in the district are Navi Mumbai , Kalyan-Dombivli, Mira-Bhayander, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar,...

  in the state of Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

Overview

The name Ambarnath literally means Lord of the sky. Ambarnath is the site of a very old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

, dating back, to 10th century. It is a beautiful temple carved out of stone in Hemad style construction.
Ambarnath lies on Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 to Pune

Pune

Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

, railway route. Most people rely on the railway link to commute to Mumbai for work. Like all Mumbai suburbs Ambarnath is divided into east Ambarnath and west Ambarnath by railway. Ambarnath west is in an industrial zone and is home to hundreds of small and large chemical factories. An Ordnance Factory has been established by the government, which is one of the reasons for Ambernath developing into a residential neighbourhood. It is of a metropolitan nature like Mumbai that houses people from different origins & places from across India. A large manufacturing facility of WIMCO,India's largest manufacturers of safety matchsticks, is also located in Ambarnath on the Kalyan-Badlapur

Badlapur

Badlapur, is one of the fastest growing towns in Mumbai Conurbation, India.Due to the population growth in the nearby cities, many people working in Mumbai have moved to Badlapur for affordable real estate prices, pleasant weather, beautiful location and quiet neighborhoods along with a proximity...

 Road.

Ambarnath east has beautifully planned residential housing society called Suryodaya Housing Society. probably the largest housing society of bungalows in entire Asia which contains more than 655 plots and covers around 4 km² of area. The housing society has 4 sections namely Kansai, Saai, Kher(Herambh) and Vadavali. Out of these Kansai and Vadavali were small villages in the past. The area in the west was named Javsai and the one in east was known Kansai. Ambarnath east was once a pristine area of beautiful bungalows but unplanned development over the years has taken its toll. The infrastructure is getting stretched to support the current population growth and the bungalows have all been replaced with cookie cutter apartment buildings.
Ambernath West is known for the Ordnance Estate. It is a colony of the employees of the Ordnance Factory, and consists of apartments provided by the government itself for the Factory employees. The colony is self-sufficient with a CBSEschool, hospital and other amenities. The estate is equipped with many facilities like 24 hrs power supply, good water supply and is great on maintaining a hygenic environment. Many people from the adjacent township of Ulhasnagar

Ulhasnagar

Ulhasnagar Ulhasnagar, also referred to as Sindhunagar, has an estimated population of 472,943 people .The name derives from the Ulhas river which flows through it. Kalyan is situated near Ulhasnagar. The city is home to many types of businesses....

 come to enjoy a peaceful refershing morning walk in its tree lined lanes.
Places to see in Ambarnath - Shiva Temple, Fatima Catholic Church and School, GIP Tank, One Tree Point, Ayyapa Temple, Shantisagar Water Resort, Chikloli Dam , Barvi Dam and Labour statue (which is probably the only statue representing Labour in India). Malang Gadh, a pilgrimage place known as Haji Malang Dargah, as well as hiking spot, is also close by.

Heramb Mandir is a renovated temple of Lord Ganesha.

In Sai Section area there is a temple for Hanuman and Shani Dev. Every Saturday people visit this temple in large numbers to seek blessings.

Ambarnath is a self contained township which has very prominent schools like Bhausaheb Paranjape Vidyalaya, InnerWheel School, Kendriya Vidyalaya (Central School), SICES, Fatima High School , Mahatma Gandhi Vidyalaya and FR. agnel multipurpose school. It also has two junior and senior colleges offering Bachelors degrees in Commerce, Science and Arts streams.

A popular hill station called Matheran

Matheran

- Getting to Matheran :Matheran is located about 100 km from Mumbai, 120 km from Pune. and 320 km from Surat. It lies on the busy Mumbai-Pune rail link and the nearest train station is at Neral, approximately 11 km from Matheran. From Neral, one can either rent a taxi to the...

, and Titwala

Titwala

Titwala is a small town near Kalyan in Maharashtra, India. Situated at the banks of a seasonal river Kalu, It is the site of a venerated temple of Ganesha, and also the putative site of the hermitage where Shakuntala was born....

, which has a famous Ganesh temple, are close by.

Business

Ambernath is also growing fast in terms of the business opportunities it offers. Many traders of Thane district have warehouses in Ambarnath.Ambarnath East has a MIDC area which has many MNCs setting up manufacturing units. The industries have grown by many folds in the past decade. There is a new MIDC area planned next to it in an area called Palegaon. Many big companies like Godrej, Ceat Etc. have started building their plants over here. It is connected to Navi Mumbai And Taloja Industrial Area by roads.
The retail market is quite developed with the area around the railway station thronging with shops and hawkers.

Dharamsi Morarji Chemicals Co Ltd.(DMCC) first set up, what was then the largest plant in Asia to manufacture sulphuric acid, in Ambernath- West, on the Kalyan- Badlapur Road (also known as M.G.Road). Though defunct now,its huge expanse and towering walls are a prominent landmark in Ambarnath.

Demographics

India census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, Ambarnath had a population of 203,795. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. 13% of the population is over 60 years of age.

History

People claim that Guru Nanak visited Ambarnath Shiv Temple on 25 February 1415 while Surinder Singh Kohli and other historians mention the period to be earlier than this.
Ambarnath is not the actual name of this town. It was "Hallyacha Pada" , a village near the Welfare Center in Ambernath East was the original name of this town. Dr. Rajendra Prasad inaugurated the railway station "Hallyacha Pada" after independence. This town started flourishing after the arrival of DMC, WIMCO and got rechristened as Ambarnath( before this there were only two villages recognised in this area as Kohoj-Khuntawali at west and Hallyacha Pada at East). When first Nagarpalika came in existence, Leaders like Meheruddin Pathan, Madan Singh, Manvir Singh, Nalwade, Laxman Jathar, D.K.Bhandarkar(Shiv Sena leader) transformed this city into a high standard little town. Subsequently arrival of MIDC pumped in more productivity in this town. Those days the OCTROI revenue from this town was 2nd in the entire Maharashtra state after Pimpri-Chinchwad.

There is also an ancient Dargah located in the Kohoj Village Popularly known as Baba Gaiban Shah Dargah, located between 3 different areas - Kohoj Village, Chinchpada, and Woollen Chawl.

As per the recent excavations, there existed an urban civilization in the Area of Ambarnath since 200BC. The bricks found date back to the Satavahan era.

Sports

Merwyn Fernandes

Merwyn Fernandes

Merwyn Fernandes is a former Indian hockey player.Merwyn played for the famous Indian Airlines hockey team in the 70s. His name become synonymous with Indian hockey. He was a consistent performer for the Indian team. Merwyn wth his body-serve and excellent finish was an exceptionalforward...

, a former Indian hockey player, played for the famous Indian Airlines hockey team in the 70s. His name has become synonymous with Indian hockey. He was a consistent performer for the Indian team. Merwyn with his body-serve and excellent finish was an exceptional forward. He represented India in 1980, 1984 and the 1988 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Indian hockey team that won the gold medal in 1980 Summer Olympics at Moscow.

Field hockey at the 1980 Summer Olympics

Hockey at the 1980 Summer Olympics was represented by two events: men's team event and women's team event. For the first time a women's Olympic Games hockey tournament was organized...

. He also received the Arjuna award

Arjuna award

The Arjuna Awards were instituted in 1961 by the government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in National sports. The award carries a cash prize of 500,000, a bronze statuette of Arjuna and a scroll....

 in 1992.

Evaristo Cardoz, donned the India Colours for the Super Soccer Series against PSV Eindhoven, a Dutch top football team, when they visited India in 1990. He again donned colours for Nehru Cup at Thiruvananthapuran in 1991 & Pre-Olympic qualifiers in 1991. Maharashtra won the Santosh Trophy at Pallakkad (Kerala) in 1991, under the captainship of Evaristo Cardozo after long 27 years.

Proposed 2nd International Airport for Mumbai in Nevali

As a result of the recent objections being raised by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on the current proposed location of the Navi Mumbai International Airport

Navi Mumbai International Airport

The proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport is a new international airport, which is to come up at Kopra-Panvel area, is being built through public-private partnership — with private sector partner getting 74% equity while Airports Authority of India and Govt of Maharashtra holding 13% each...

 near Kopra Panvel

Panvel

Panvel is city and a municipal council in Raigad district in the state of Maharashtra. Panvel is also known as the gateway of Konkan region. It adjoins Navi Mumbai, and is just after the Thane district border. Panvel is located on the Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway about 21 kilometres from...

 area, apparently because the construction of the airport would involve reclamation of low-lying areas in an ecologically fragile zone as well as destruction of several hectares of mangroves, other locations are being actively being considered, which includes the one off village Nevali near Kalyan-Ambernath 55 km away from the current airport in Mumbai. There exists an old and abandoned air-strip of World War II era and the Union Defence Ministry owns the 1500 acres (6.1 km²) of land on which it is located. The proposal is now centred around those 1500 acres (6.1 km²) of land. If the current location at Kopra Panvel does not go through, then the Kalyan-Newali location would be considered for a future Kalyan International Airport

Kalyan International Airport

Kalyan International Airport is a proposed greenfield airport which when completed would serve the as the second airport for the Mumbai metropolitan region and would be located around the area in village Nevali in the Kalyan Ambernath belt, Taluka Kalyan in Thane district, Maharashtra,...

 which would serve as a much needed second International airport for the Mumbai Metropolitan region.

Places

• Loknagari Complex (east) MIDC road - a large complex of 5 different housing societies,and very well planned.
• Hashmukh Hanuman Mandir, Sai Section
• Hanuman Mandir, Javsai, near Ordnance Estate located in Ambernath(West)
• Hanuman Mitra Mandal, Hanuman galli khuntawali Ambernath(West)
• Hanuman Mandir, Hanuman Galli Khuntawali(W) - since 1903
• Selva Ganpati Temple, Gaodevi chowk (W)
• Ganesh Mandir, near Shivaji Nagar, Ambarnath(East)
• Maa Kali Temple, at Ordance Estate, Ambarnath(West)
• Shiv Mandir, near Shiv Ganga Nagar, Ambarnath(East)
• Ghaban Shah Wali Darga, located in Ambarnath(West)
• Gurunaka Temple, located in Ambarnath(West)
• Heramb Ganesh Temple, located in Ambarnath(West).
• Hazrat Haji Abdur Rehaman, Haji Malang, Dargha Ambarnath
• Dargah Hazrat Gaiban Shah baba, Ambarnath.
• Ayyappa Temple, Ayyappa giri, near Ordnance Estate, Ambarnath.
• St Gregorios Orthodox Syrian Church,Ambarnath West
• Fatima Catholic Church,Ambarnath West
• Messiah Bible Believers Church, Ambarnath West
• Maruti Mandir, Vandrapada
• Shiv Dham, a posh housing complex near Shivaji Chowk(Railway Station)
• Sai baba temple, modern mandir near state bank of India, Ambernath(East)
• Teen Jhaad (three trees), located in Amnernath(West)
• Shree Heramb Mandir Temple, half a mile away from the railway station in Ambarnath(East). Lod Heramb idol is made of granite rock and sculptured at Tirupati Devasthanams.
• Saibaba Mandir Temple, east of Ambernath station. On Thursdays people from all faiths come to see the life-size statue of Saibaba.
• Ayyappa Temple, Navre Park, Ambernath(West)
• Apti river (just 15 minutes from teen jhaad).
• Panvelkar Regency Near Fr. Agnel Multipurpose school, Khojgaon
• Mountains of Bhuvapada(near Khadan)
• Shanidev Mandir & Hanuman Mandir, both on B Cabin Road
• Ayyapda Dam, near Jawsai gaon
• Huge Shivsena Shakha in Bhaskar Nagar Ambernath(W)
• Navre Nagar, Ambernath (E), probably the first self-contained township in Ambernath. It consists of 45 buildings and 2 towers, complete with a school and Ganpati Mandir.
• Hari Om Park, Ambernath(E)
• Maridevi Temple on Bhaskar Nagar, Ambernath(w)
• Royal Park, Ambernath (East)
• Mahalaxmi Temple in Mahalaxmi Nagar, Ambernath(E)
• Shree Gajanan Maharaj Temple, Ambernath (E)
• Kailash Nagar, MIDC Road, Ambernath (E)

Schools

• Madansingh Manveersingh Memorial High school Ambernath (West)
• Adarsh Bharat Bal Vidya Mandir, Bhagwan Gosavi Chwal,Near Jai Bhim Hsg.Soc.Khuntwali,Ambarnath (West)
• RCT's P.M.M. Inner Wheel School and Junior college near State Bank
• Loknagari Public School in East Loknagari Complex
• South Indian Children Education Society (S.I.C.E.S) High School (Subhashwadi)
• Telugu Vikasa Mandali (T.V.M.) (Gaondevi Road)
• TMS High School(Subhaswadi)
• Fatima High School(Subhashwadi)
• S.V.Kolkar Vidyalaya
• Bhausaheb Paranjape Vidyalaya
• Mahatma Gandhi Vidyalaya (Station Road)
• Dnyanamrut Vidyalaya, Ambernath
• Messiah English High School {New Bhendipada, Ambernath (W)}
• Dyaan Prabhodhini Vidya Mandir,MHB Colany Ambarnath (west)
• National Urdu School
• Rosary English School
• Haji Yusuf Urdu School
• Modern English High School
• Bethel Church High School (Dubai Colony)
• Dr.B.G.Chhaya Sharda Mandir (Gujrati Medium)
• Kendriya Vidyalaya Ambernath
• Madina Masjid Near Fatima School in western Ambarnath
• Gokhale Rahalkar Vidyalaya, Kher section (Ambarnath) East
• Fr. Agnel Multipurpose school, Khojgaon, Ambernath
• Shastri Hindi Vidyalaya, Ambernath West
• Millat Urdu School, Ambernath West
• S.S. Jondhale Vidyamandir and Polytechnic, Ambernath East