Prabhadevi is a small up-scale district neighbourhood of 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...

 city, situated between the Shivaji Park Residential Zone

Shivaji Park Residential Zone

The Shivaji Park Residential Zone refers to the cluster of residential buildings that flank the boundaries of Shivaji Park, the largest park in Mumbai, located in Dadar - Prabhadevi in South-Central Mumbai within the Island City limits....

 to the north and Worli

Worli

-History:Worli was one of the original seven islands that constituted the city of Mumbai. Although primarily a fishing village, the Worli Fort, a British fort that is now in ruins, is located there. Its original resident was the legendary Dishankeshwar Kalsi who has also been recognized in several...

 to the south and the Arabian Sea

Arabian Sea

The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...

 to the west. A major landmark is the Siddhivinayak Temple  dedicated to Lord Ganesha which attracts hundreds of devotees everyday and is one of the richest temple trusts in India.

History and location

The oldest part of this locality houses a temple of Prabhavatidevi dedicated to Prabhadevi from which the region takes its name. However, the Prabhadevi temple has been overshadowed due to the presence of the Siddhivinayak Temple, dedicated to Lord Ganesha. The Siddhivinayak Temple attracts hundreds of pilgrims from all over 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...

, most notably the Bollywood

Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 actors. Since the British period in India, Prabhadevi has housed a number of mills, which have been sold to make way for upscale residential sky scrapers. Due to its proximity with the Arabian Sea and its exact central location in Mumbai and between the commercial South Bombay and the suburbs it houses the most expensive apartment rates in all of South Asia.

Siddhivinayak Temple

Siddhivinayak Temple was built on November 19, 1801, by Mr. Laxman Vithu and Mrs. Deubai Patil. It has since evolved and has been subjected to many modifications to what it now stands. Siddhivinayak is well known as “Navasacha Ganapati” or “Navasala Pavanara Ganapati” in Marathi (which means 'Ganapati bestows whenever humbly genuinely prayed a wish') among devotees.

Prabhadevi Temple

The temple situated at the crossroads of Veer Savarkar Marg and Appsaheb Marathe Road was built in 1715 but the main idol of Shakambhari

Shakambhari

In Hinduism, Shakambhari is an incarnation of Ishwari, consort to Shiva. She is the divine mother, called "The Bearer of the Greens."- Etymology :...

 devi, dates to the 12th century. Shakambaridevi was the patron goddess of the Yadav

Jadhav

Jadhav is the name of a Maratha clan located largely in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and other regions of north-western India.- Origin :...

 king, Raja Bimba

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....

 of Gujarat who ruled this area. According to the temple priest, when the Mughals invaded the area, the idols were shifted to safer location to escape vandalism. They first found refuge in Mahim Creek and then mysteriously in a well, located near the temple site. Shakambhari in the form of Prabhavatidevi appeared in a dream to Shyam Nayak (a Pathare Prabhu

Pathare prabhu

Pathare Prabhu is one of the Hindu communities in the city of Mumbai . These people are among earliest settlers in the city. They are known to have one of the oldest academic traditions amongst Hindus on par with Brahmins. They were amongst the first of the Hindus to adopt to British educational...

). The temple was built under his supervision. It has a wide protico with wooden beams and tiled walls.

Kali

Kali

' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...

ka and Chandi

Chandi

Chandi or Chandika is the supreme Goddess of Devi Mahatmya also known as Chandi or Durga Sapthashati. Chandi is described as the Supreme reality who is a combination of Mahakali, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Saraswati...

ka, two manifestations of Shakti

Shakti

Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...

 are on the either side of the main idol of Shakambaridevi. Other deities namely Laxmi Narayan and Shiva are also present. Today, The temple is looked after by the Gajanan Kirtikar trust, run by the descendants of Shayam Nayak. Every year in the Pausha

Pausha

Pausha is a month of the Hindu calendar In the Indian national calendar, Pausha is the tenth month of the year, beginning with the solstice on 22 December and ending on 20 January....

 (January) month of the Hindu calendar

Hindu calendar

The hindu calendar used in ancient times has undergone many changes in the process of regionalization, and today there are several regional Indian calendars, as well as an Indian national calendar. Nepali calendar, Bengali calendar, Malayalam calendar, Tamil calendar, Telugu calendar, Kannada...

, a ten day "Jatra" (Mela

Mela

Mela is a Sanskrit word meaning 'gathering' or 'to meet' or a Fair. It is used in the Indian subcontinent for all sizes of gathering and can be religious, commercial, cultural or sports. In rural traditions melas or village fairs were of great importance...

) is held, beginning on the full moon day, to celebrate the Prabhavatidevi. This festival is quite popular with hundreds of people attending it every year.

During colonial times

Evidence of its importance in earlier times is a milestone located opposite the temple. "VIII MILES FROM THE TOWN HALL" carved on it. This monolithic structure hails back to British Colonial India when important landmarks in the city (Prabhadevi Temple in this case) had their distance from the city centre i.e. Town Hall (which is better known as Asiatic Library today) inscribed on it.

This area was a major part of Girangaon

Girangaon

Girangaon was a name commonly used to refer to an area now part of central Mumbai, India, which at one time had almost 130 textile mills, with the majority being cotton mills. Girangaon covered an area of , not including the workers' housing...

 which had several mills. Most of the mills still stand today but with the advent of the power loom

Power loom

A power loom is a mechanized loom powered by a line shaft. The first power loom was designed in 1784 by Edmund Cartwright and first built in 1785. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by Kenworthy and Bullough, made the operation completely automatic. This was known as the...

 are no longer profitable and hence are closed down.

Recent years

In Mumbai, the very mention of Prabhadevi makes one conjure up an image of a posh residential area situated in the heart of the metro with very few problems. The roads are clean and well maintained and there is a clean beach on its western side. But a major factor that works out in Prabhadevi's favour is its proximity. Also, the area boasts of relatively unencroached (read hawker-free) footpaths unlike some of the suburbs where pavements have become a facility of the past.
Recent years have seen a surge in property prices in Prabhadevi which has heralded a construction boom catering to high-end residential apartments and skyscrapers. Older residential areas co-exist with shimmering and towering skyscrapers and continue to lend an old-world charm to this area located along the sea-front which makes Prabhadevi a very desirable and liveable locality.

Twin Tower lane( commonly known as Bombay Dyeing ), Beach Tower, Lloyds Garden, Raheja Empress, Tanna Residency, Prathamesh Society, Vaibhav Apartments, Tata Peregrine, Chaitanya Towers are some of the well known apartments in Mumbai located in Prabhadevi towards the Arabian sea. These apartments house the most affluent and aristocratic families of Mumbai. Some of the more recent ultra luxurious and ultra expensive developments in Prabhadevi include Sheth Beaumonde Towers (3 Towers, 33 storeys each), Sumer Trinity Towers, Lodha Grandeur and Raheja Legend, they will now define the skyline of the prominent area in South Central Mumbai. A construction of a 77-storeyed hotel is expected to transform the face of Prabhadevi.

Prabhadevi has been known for being one of the most liberal district in Mumbai, it is also considered as the cleanest part of Mumbai.
The May Despite, its liberalism, almost all of the local residents are Hindus mostly due to its proximity to the Hindu right-wing district of Dadar

Dadar

Dadar is a place in Mumbai, and is also a railway station on both the Western and Central lines of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. Dadar is situated in the heart of Mumbai, and Dadar station is the only railway station common to both the Central and Western lines...

 and the presence of the historically significant temples.

Services and Transportation

The commercial and the business parts of Prabhadevi do not seem to be growing as fast as the residential areas. However it is slowly proving to be a very important financial and commercial hub in the city, with Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

 recently setting up its Mumbai office in Prabhadevi itself. In addition, many businesses and banks have also set up their corporate offices here in Prabhadevi. These include ICICI

Ičići

Icici is a small place located in the north-east part of Istria, Croatia . It is located under a mountain Učka, on the north part of the Adriatic Sea....

, Crompton Greaves

Crompton Greaves

Crompton Greaves is an Indian multinational engaged in design, manufacturing, and marketing of products related to power generation, transmission, and distribution based in Mumbai. Its part of Avantha Group. - History :...

, and Deloitte. There are many automobile showrooms in Prabhadevi which include Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

, Skoda

Škoda Auto

Škoda Auto , more commonly known as Škoda, is an automobile manufacturer based in the Czech Republic. Škoda became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group in 2000, positioned as the entry brand to the group...

, Tata Motors

Tata Motors

Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Mumbai, India. Part of the Tata Group, it was formerly known as TELCO...

, Fiat

Fiat

FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

, Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

, Hyundai

Hyundai

Hyundai ) is a global conglomerate company, part of the Korean chaebol, that was founded in South Korea by one of the most famous businessmen in Korean history: Chung Ju-yung...

 and Honda

Honda

is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...

. The main centre of MTNL is also located in Prabhadevi.

Prabhadevi does not fall close to any of the major train stations in Mumbai. It however lies equidistant from Elphinstone Road

Elphinstone Road

Elphinstone Road in Mumbai, India was named after Lord Elphinstone, the Governor of Bombay from 1853 to 1860. There is also a railway station on the Western line of the Mumbai suburban railway by this name....

 and Dadar

Dadar

Dadar is a place in Mumbai, and is also a railway station on both the Western and Central lines of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. Dadar is situated in the heart of Mumbai, and Dadar station is the only railway station common to both the Central and Western lines...

 train station making it easily accessible to the two major railway lines in Mumbai. Most of the important BEST

Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport

The BEST ) is Mumbai's public transport service and electricity provider....

 bus routes pass through Prabhadevi. The Bandra-Worli Sea Link

Bandra-Worli Sea Link

The Bandra–Worli Sea Link , also known as the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link , is a cable-stayed bridge with pre-stressed concrete-steel viaducts on either side, that links Bandra and the western suburbs of Mumbai with Worli...

is only mile away from the Prabhadevi district, and the sight onto the Arabian Sea overlooks the Sea Link.