Borivali

Borivali is a suburban area located in the north-west section of Mumbai. Borivali is approximately 18 km from Airport in Mumbai and 21st railway station from Churchgate.
The Borivali Railway Station is a terminus for all slow and fast trains on the Mumbai Suburban Railways system. Some of the Virar bound trains are not halted at Borivali since recent past. It also serves as the final city-limit stop for all mail / express trains on WR (now including the August Kranti Rajdhani Express to New Delhi) before leaving Mumbai. As of 2006, there are plans to extend the Harbour Line to Borivali, and expansion plans are in full steam at the railway station.
As of September 2007, there are 8 platforms at Borivali railway station. Platform No: 1,2,3,7,8 (from Borivali(w) side) run trains between Borivali and Churchgate while 4,5 are exclusively used for Virar bound trains and mail/express trains and platform no.6 which is on the east-ward of the station is for Churchgate and virar bound trains and some of the up-countrty trains hault here. The 1st platform also caters to Virar bound slow train.The 7th and 8th platforms are terminal platforms.
Borivali in the earlier days used to be a taluka and contained villages like Eksar Village, Khandivali village, Shimpoli Village and so on. It is not the same any more but will find relevance in old official documents. Borivali was spelled 'Berewlee' by the British.
Mumbai is one of the few metropolitan cities in the world which boasts of a natural animal and plant wildlife reserve within the city limits. The park is called Sanjay Gandhi National Park and lies in the east section of Borivali near the Western Express Highway (NH-8). It has a few lions and panthers and also includes a 4th century B.C. archaeological site called Kanheri Caves and Mandpeshwar Caves. The 2005 census of Leopards was 68.
Gorai Creek is located on the western coast of Borivali. This place is famous as a crossover point for Essel World (external link), Water Kingdom and a quick way to reach Gorai beach.
Mandapeshwar Caves

Borivali has the Mandapeshwar caves. The Portuguese pronounced Mandapeshwar as Mount Peizer and from Mt. Peizer, the place is now known as Mt. Poinsur.
It was surprisingly built by the Buddhist with Persians and not by Hindus. These caves are recorded as built around the same time as the Jogeshwari caves and contained the largest Mandapa and a prominent Garbagriha.

These caves were witness to a series of invasions by different rulers and each time the caves were used for a different reason, sometimes even for things like housing. Years later, the cave was also used as a church by the Fraciscian Priest. The church and its graveyard form one of the edges of the cave precincts. There are the ruins of an old structure over the caves.

History of the Mandpeshwar Caves

This cave is not a temple of Hindu god Shiva as it is mistakenly believed to be but it is actually "a hall of paintings". The Buddhists of Western India had close ties with the Persians whose supremacy in commerce then was unmatched in the eastern part of the globe. Hence it is believed that the Mandapeshwar caves were planned and sculpted by the Persian artists.

Their works depicted the mythical tales of the Hindu gods and goddesses. Even today an elaborate sculpture representing the marriage of Shiva with Parvati may be viewed from the large square window at the south end of these caves.

View-Hindu gods and godesses sculpted in the pillar

The Kanheri Caves
The Kanheri Caves are located north of Borivli on the western outskirts of Mumbai deep within the green forests of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
Residential Colonies in Borivali
The Borivali(west) is housed with many residential colonies such as I.C Colony, LIC Colony, Madonna Colony, Marian Colony and Kanderpada. Saint Francis D'Assisi High School is one of the oldest schools in Mumbai. This area has the highest concentration of Christians in Mumbai. I.C Colony, an area to the South of the Immaculate Conception Church is populated by a very large congregation of Catholics in Mumbai. The Holy Cross Colony and extension (also called I.C. extension) which extends beyond I.C Colony towards Dahisar (Mumbai's last zone and station)is also part of the extended Catholic locale.
Opposite Shimpoli Telephone Exchange near Chikuwadi, is located Kanti Park, which is the SBI's Associate Banks' Officers' Colony.
Extravaganza, Essel World (extrernal link) & the largest water park in Asia, Water Kingdom are located near Gorai Creek at west of Borivali.
Shanti Ashram is closer by to IC Colony and is a temple for the Sindhi Community. There are two clubs - Club Aquaria and Eskay Resort in this area.
Eksar Village is an area where there is a fish market for the Maharashtrian Community.
There is an ST stand in Borivali(E) near the station. Travelling to Thane City is easier and less time consuming by this mode, than by trains which involves changing from Western to central at Dadar. It takes only 60 minutes to reach Thane railway station.
Shopping Centres
Borivali also provides good markets for shopping. Major Shopping areas are at Borivali Station(W) where complexes such as Indraprastha, Thakkar Mall, Goyal Arcade provide varied choices to shop.
Indraprastha Shopping Centre.
Thakkar Mall
Sai Shopping Mall
Healthcare facilities

The Bhagwati Hospital is one of the largest municipal hospitals in Mumbai. The hospital, built in 1963, caters to the population from Andheri to Dahanu. Currently it contains 363 beds, however plans are being made to modernise the hospital, by starting a medical college and converting it into a 750-bed super-speciality hospital. The hospital is located at SVP Road, Mandpeshwar.The Karuna hosipital is also located borivali at LIC Colony. The hospital is a 100 Bed hospital and has all types of Doctors that you can possibly ask for. It is run by the Christian Sisters and they just charge Rs. 50 for a Consultation.
In addition to these hospitals, Borivali contains several private clinics and nursing homes.

The Education Institutions :-
R.C.Patel High School Saint
Francis D'Assisi High School
St. Francis Institute of Technology, an engineering college
Mary Immaculate Girls primary and secondary high school
Ajmera Global School
Don Bosco High School St.
Lawrence High School
Gokhale Education Society
Gopalji Hemraj High School (GH)
Himalaya High School and Jr. College
J B Khot High School
Our Lady Of Remedy High School
St. Anne's St. Xavier's High School
St. Rocks College of Commerce and Science
Swami Vivekanand International School at Eksar
Our Lady Of Vailankanni High School at Gorai
Chogale High School-SriKrishna Nagar atYogi Nagar

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