Matunga
Encyclopedia
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...
. It is a railway station
Matunga Road
Matunga Road is the name of a railway station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. It offers access to Matunga and Shivaji Park areas of Mumbai. The corresponding station on the Central line is called Matunga. It is the smallest railway halt in Mumbai in terms of number of passengers and number...
on the Mumbai Suburban Railway
Mumbai Suburban Railway
The Mumbai Suburban Railway system, part of the public transport system of Mumbai, is provided for by the state-run Indian Railways' two zonal Western Railways and Central Railways. The system carries more than 6.99 million commuters on a daily basis. It has the highest passenger densities of any...
network. This station is called Matunga
Matunga railway station
Matunga is a railway station on the Central line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network....
on the Central railway line, Matunga Road
Matunga Road
Matunga Road is the name of a railway station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. It offers access to Matunga and Shivaji Park areas of Mumbai. The corresponding station on the Central line is called Matunga. It is the smallest railway halt in Mumbai in terms of number of passengers and number...
on the Western line and King's Circle
King's Circle
King's Circle is a railway station on Mumbai's Harbour Line. It is also the name of a circular park in Matunga, Mumbai, which has since been renamed Maheshwari Udyan. Like most other renamed places, locals still prefer calling it by its old name. Actually King's Circle and Matunga stations are next...
, (officially named, Maheshwari Udyan) on the Harbour Line. The main places of interest here are temples and restaurants.
History
Seven islands of Bombay
The seven islands of Bombay were an archipelago of islands that were, over a span of five centuries, connected to form the area of the modern city of Mumbai in India. The seven islands were gradually physically united through land reclamation projects...
with Mahim (then known as Mahikavati).
Mahim
Mahim
Mahim is a neighbourhood in Mumbai. It is also the name of a railway station in Mahim area, on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Railway railway line. In ancient times, the area was known as Maijim, Mejambu, Mahikawati....
, or Mahikawati as it was known, was the capital of Raja Bhimdev
Raja Bhimdev
Bhimdev II or Raja Bhimdev also known as Raja Bimba was a 11th century king who had his capital in Mahikawati, the present-day Mahim, in Mumbai, India....
, who reigned over the region in the 13th century. Raja Bhimdev's origins are not clearly known. He may have come from Anahilwada-Patan in Gujarat or from the dynasty of Yadavs in Deogiri. He built a palace and a court of justice in Prabhadevi
Prabhadevi
Prabhadevi is a small up-scale district neighbourhood of Mumbai city, situated between the Shivaji Park Residential Zone to the north and Worli to the south and the Arabian Sea to the west...
, as well as the first Babulnath temple. Raja Bhimdev stationed his elephant cavalry near Mahim. This place was referred to as Matanga (मतंग), the Sanskrit for elephant. This is the name from which the present-day name "Matunga" has been derived.
Matunga was among the first planned suburbs of Mumbai. The Dadar-Matunga-Wadala-Sion plan of 1899-1900 was formulated to evenly distribute population as well as provide better living standards.
Education hub
In 1937, the general council of Salesians of Don BoscoSalesians of Don Bosco
The Salesians of Don Bosco is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the late nineteenth century by Saint John Bosco in an attempt, through works of charity, to care for the young and poor children of the industrial revolution...
approved a plan to buy 60000 yd2 land in Matunga from the Bombay Municipal Corporation. The Corporation approved the sale on July 16, 1937. The Salesians bought the land for Rs. 229,160. The Don Bosco High School (formerly known as The Catholic Educational Institute) run by them was shifted from the rented premises at Tardeo
Tardeo
Tardeo or Tardeo Road is a residential and commercial locality of South Mumbai, from Nana Chowk to Haji Ali Junction...
to the new Don Bosco camp