Dahisar

Dahisar is 22nd railway station from Churchgate. The history of Dahisar is probably as old as the ruins of Mandpeshwar caves Mandpeshwar caves Borivali that lie on the Dahisar - Borivali border. The origin of word Dahisar probably has got something to do with the Ten hamlets namely Kandarpada, Navagaon, Ovaripada, Ghartanpada, Ketaki pada, Raival Pada, Dahivali, Anand Nagar, Bhagalipada,Wadary Pada and Gaothan are the ten original hamlets of Dahisar which made up this village. "Dahi" stands for Ten in the language of Warlis, Dublis, Kolis and Agris, the original residents of Dahisar who still live primarily in the hamlets of Kandarpada and Gaothan and the tribals who live in the hills surrounding Dahisar - the Warlis and Dublis.
Dahisar was originally a part of Thane District, it became a part of Mumbai in the 1960s. With the construction of the railway line connecting Dahisar to the city of Mumbai over a century ago, came the first lot of migrants, the people from Sindhudurg region of Konkan. These migrants established the first planned residential areas of Dahisar - Maratha Colony in Dahisar East and Mhatre Wadi in the West. The Railway authorities wanted to name the rail head at Dahisar as Mount Poinsur Road, but the locals opposed this move and forced the authorities to name it as Dahisar.

Dahisar is surrounded by the scenic hills of Sanjay Gandhi National Park on the eastern side and the inlet of Manori creek and saltpans on the western side. Dahisar was once an idyllic place to live in, with small hillocks, mango orchards, a beautiful river, and numerous lakes and ponds. But as of today, the beautiful river, is now an extremely polluted stream of sewage, the orchards and hills have been obliterated by slums and lakes have now been filled over for building construction. The dense mangroves surrounding the inlet of Gorai creek however still remain and provide Dahisar with its last remaining stretch of wilderness. There was a time just 30 years back, when the marshy area which is now the link road, was full of gigantic boulders, all of which baring a couple have been demolished. Currently Dahisar has undergone a complete transformation, with better pedestrian sidewalks, wider & smoother roads. A new flyover is being built near Ashok Van on the Western Express High-Way which aims to ease traffic during the peak hours.
The 80s and 90s saw a spurt in the development of residential complexes. Anand Nagar was the first of the very large residential complexes to be built in Dahisar.
Medina Manzil, Patel Colony, Jainab Bagh, Sanjeevani and Gol Building were amongst the first building style residential areas of Dahisar. The 70s saw the setting up of residential areas of Gokul and Shailendra Nagar.
There are many temples in Dahisar. The main temples are Bhatladevi, Bhav Devi Mandir, Gaon Devi Mandir, Vithal Mandir, Sri Datta Mandir, Sri Krishna Mandir, Khodiyar Mandir, Radhakrishan Mandir, Vital-Rukhmai Mandir, Sri Krishna's Haweli (Vaishnava's), Swami Narayan's Mandir, Sri Shantinaath Dada Jain Mandir, Sai Baba Temple (Gaonthan) and Sairam Temple Padmavilla Kiran Joshi House. These are main and the most famous temples in Dahisar.
There is a new Garden for kids and senior citizens to jog around. There is newly posted statue of Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. There is also a new constructions on of Flyover Bridge for passing the vehicles from link road directly connecting to the National Highway No. 8 near Checknaka.

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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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Kandivali

View:-Akurli village and sky scrappers, Kandivali

Kandivali or Kandivli is the name of a suburb of Mumbai. It is 20th down railway station from Churchgate on the Western Railway of Mumbai Suburban Railways.

Kandivali was under British when they ruled India. Kandivali as it is all known was first called Candolim or candol by the British.
The Kandivali railway station was built 100 years ago in 1907, then known as Khandolee. The station probably derived its name from the marathi word "Khaan" meaning mine. The area around Western Express between Malad and Kandivali had numerous stone quarries and was once famous for Malad Stone. Many heritage buildings in Mumbai were constructed with Malad stone between 1860 and 1930, notable among them are David Sasson library, Bombay House, Western Railway building at Churchgate.
The township was a semi-rural area up to the 1980s, with agricultural land, hutments and villages. With the real estate boomed up in the 1980s and 1990s, many residential projects started to shift northward. This saw a frenzied construction activity leading to large scale development. The area has also witnessed the highest appreciation in land value in Mumbai. It is now considered a posh residential location of western suburbs of Mumbai with a number of upmarket constructions and complexes. The area currently has swank malls, wide roads, multiplexes and numerous flyovers.
The original inhabitants are the Maharastrian , the East Indian Catholic community who reside at Kandivli village, Koli (fishermen) who reside in the Charkop village. Now it is cosmopolitan with Maharashtrians, Gujaratis, etc. It is one of the densely populated suburbs in Mumbai.
Western suburban railway line divides the area in two parts as Kandivali (West) and Kandivali (East).
Kandivali (West) Kandivali (West) includes village (gaon) , M.G.Road, Kamla Nagar, Mathuradas Road, Shanker Lane, Parekh Nagar, Dahanukar Wadi, Mahavir Nagar, Patel Nagar, Poisar, Ganesh Nagar, Irani wadi, Ekta Nagar and Charkop. It is a beautiful place and a cosmopolitan area. The oldest place in Kandivali is Kandivali Village (Gaon) which comprised of more than 5 families in 1800s. It developed a lot in 1900s.
There is a beautiful "Our Lady of Assumption Church" which is one of the oldest churches of Mumbai. The M.G road in Kandivali(west)has the famous Kala Hanuman temple which is visited by hundreds of devotees every day.Kandivali is also famous for 56 years old Shreeji temple(Girirajji ni Haveli) on Mathuradas Road that was built by Kashibai Govindji Mandani in 1952 and is at present being taken care of by Nagardas Sunderji Dholakia and his three sons Ramesh, Kirti & Girish Dholakia. Today more than 5000 people visit this temple every month.
Other notable places in Kandivali(West) are Dahanukar Wadi, Mahavir Nagar, Saibaba Nagar etc. RNA's Regency Park and their upcoming Royale Park are landmark projects in this area.
Charkop Village The original inhabitants are kolis (Fishermen, who reside in the village of charkop). The famous among them are Kenis, Bhandaris, Patils and Vaitys. The 'Dingeshwar Temple' where all villagers gather to-gether once in a year to worship the god. During these days they perform Palkhi and Satyanarayan Maha-Pooja. There is a Talao (lake) where 'Ganpati Imersion' takes place. Apart from one Municipal Marathi School, there is a Secondary School named "Ekveera Vidyalaya' run by a Trust named "Shri Ekveera Dnyan Prasarak Mandal". The Trust run Primary & Secondary Schools in Marathi as well as English mediums. Property prices in charkop area has increased significantly after announcement of Mumbai metro project wherein charkop will be a starting point. It's developed with lovely new buildings and towers. The newly under developing sector 8 especially looks amazing with new buildings and towers, siddhi heights is having sea-facing luxury flats, sea view, hill view, sea crown, sai prem apartment, sai siddhi, ruby tower etc. Charkop is starting up with some malls.

Kandivali (East) is a cosmopolitan area and includes Thakur Complex,Samata Nagar, Thakur Village, Asha Nagar, Hanuman Nagar and Lokhandwala Complex. It has one of the highest population concentration in Mumbai. Ashok Nagar is one of the oldest residential area here. Earlier, the only landmark in Kandivali (E) was the Mahindra & Mahindra Limited tractor division. Now the area has many tall skyscrapers and posh residential complexes.
Karsangli Devi Akurli Mata Mandir A beautiful temple of Shri Karsangli Akurli Mata is in existance in Kandivali (East) since last about 150 years.Perviously known as "Akurli Village" and said temple of goddess Shri Krusangali Devi Akurli Mata is gramdevata of the Akurli village,This temples is situated on open land about 1 acre 2 gunthas (Appor 4500 sq.meter),with Dakshin Mukhai Hanuman mandir,Sidhheshwar Mahadeo mandir,Shri Datta mandir and Shitaladevi mandir in its premises.Its existence since last 150 years old is proved by Govt.official record known as "Bombay Gazettor's year 1882 (VOL-XIV) on page no.102",available with dept.of Archive, Govt of Maharastara. Elepistan colleg building ,Fort,Mumbai. In which following information is given about the said temple. "About three miles north-east of Goregaon station,in a small wooden temple within the land of the deserted village of Akurli is an image of Devi known as "KARSAUGLI DEVI".This image is said to have been found at the bottom of a pond about thirty years ago and was set up and provided with a temple by a large Hindu landowner Mr.Bhau Rasul A few year ago(1875)a childless Hindu made a vow to the goddess and in due course his wife had a son.Since then a yearly fair has been hold on Magh fullmoon (Januray-Februry).It is attend by about 1000 Hindus beside some Musalmans and Parsis.
Gowshala Exactly opposite the Akurli Mata Mandir is the 120 year old Kandivali Gowshala, which is house to around 200 cows. This is spread over an area of 5 acres and is distinct green cover in an otherwise growing concrete jungle. However, the greenary is now limited to the interiors of Gowshala since recent developments have compelled the authorities to cut down the trees and grass in this locality.The cows are also kept inhouse most of the time and are fed from the interior & generally are not taken outside the locality.

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Malad

Aksa Beach, Malad

Malad is a suburb of Mumbai and 19th down railway station from Churchgate on the Western Railway Line of Mumbai Suburban Railways.

In the 19th century, the Orlem (also known as Valnai) was a hamlet of just about 12 families in Malad. In 1880, Fr. Joseph Maria Braz de Souza built a private chapel dedicated to our Lady of Lourdes at Orlem. In 1882, the chapel was officially declared a part of the Apostolate of Bombay and affiliated to the church of Our Lady of Assumption, Kandivli. Later, Fr. Justin built the first school, the St Anne's High School, in 1915. Through his efforts, Orlem was constituted a separate parish, in a decree dated July 2, 1916.

Manori Beach, Malad

In 1934, Bombay Talkies, the first movie company to be founded in India, was established in Malad by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rai. In 1955 St. Joseph School was established. Originally, much of the land in the west was owned by East Indian families and was used primarily for agriculture. In the 1970s, many of them sold their lands to real estate developers.
Apart from the original East Indian (Catholics) settlers, the suburb has a considerable population of Gujaratis, South Indians, Marwaris and Punjabis. Real estate in the west is more expensive than in the east.
Currently there is a construction boom due to BPO spurts.
Major localities in Malad are Chincholi Bunder Road, Mind Space, Marve Road, Liberty Garden, Navy Nagar, Orlem. Sunder Nagar is on border of Malad and Goregaon.
Some of the major localities in Malad (West) are Orlem (originally called Valnai in Marathi), Evershine Nagar and Palm Court Complex.
Sunder Nagar is a locality in Malad that lies along the west side of Swami Vivekanand Road. The area was built up in the 1970s and is primarily composed of many housing complexes, typically 2 bedroom apartments. There are 3 schools, (Umedbhai Patel English School, Utkarsh Mandir and S. Radhakrishnan Vidyalaya), 1 college (Prahldrai Dalmia's Lions College) and a large garden in the limited area. The housing blocks are typically named alphabetically starting from A up to V. It borders Mandlik Nagar on the North and some defunct factories on the south.
Malad East has many popular housing colonies like Raheja Township, Govind Nagar, Mahindra Nagar and Pratap Nagar. Mahindra Nagar is a clean and green society, which was nominated as the 2nd most pollution free area in Mumbai by Eureka Forbes after Aarey Colony in Goregaon. Malad East has Daftary Road, which runs across from station on East up till Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway and this is one of the most congested roads in Mumbai suburbs. Malad East also boasts of quite a few old running schools such as Fatimadevi, Children's Academy, Nutan Vidyalay, Utkarsh Mandir, Sanskar Vidyalay. Fatimadevi English School established in 1953 is, one of the oldest educational institution in the Malad Suburb of Mumbai. Lots of great minds passed out from this institution. Children's Academy school has track record of maintaining 100% passing success at SSC board results.
Malad is fast becoming IT HUB with many BPO spurting. There are at least 7 malls and largest of them is INORBIT, voted one of the best malls in Mumbai. Inorbit Mall seemed the ultimate answer to Malad’s shopping problems.
There is a rare holy relic of Mother Mary that is on display at St Peter"s Jacobite Church, also called the Soonoro Church at Mith Chowky near Orlem. The relic, a piece of fabric believed to be part of the girdle worn by Mother Mary, is on view between September 1 and 8. The relic draw thousands of worshipers. The relic, also called a Soonoro or belt, was brought to Kerala from Syria in 1982 by the head of the Orthodox faith, Ignatius Zakka I. The Malad relic is a piece of that Soonoro.
The main artery of Malad Western side is the Marve Road that starts from SV Road is intersected by the linking road and finishes up to Madh Island Lands End. From this end you just need to cross by Ferry to reach Versova in minutes. You can find famous places that are on this road like the beautiful Laxmi Narayan Temple built by Dongre Maharaj, Orlem Church, Orlem Market, Link Road, Malvani intersection, Mith Chowki, St. Anthony's Church, INS Hamla of Navy for Training in Bridge building and Radar, this place is also called as an eye of Mumbai, Marve Beach (from here you can ferry to Essel World or Manori Beach), Erangal Beach (famous for film shootings), Old Portuguese Church, 5 star Hotel 'The Resort' at Aksa Beach and Madh Island where there is a large fishing village and an old settlement of the Koli community.
There is a market called Somwar (Monday) Bazaar, located in the 'Chincholi' area. As the name suggests, this bazaar is active only on Monday's. The locality is named after the Somwar bazaar. Unique products are sold at this bazaar by sellers from various parts of the state of Maharashtra. Orlem is region of significant Catholic population, and one of the main regions of Catholic dominance in Mumbai. A few prominent schools in the region are St. Anne's School, Carmel of St. Joseph's High School (a girl's school run by nuns of the convent), Children's Academy (Malad East), Ryan's International School and Fatima Devi (Malad East).
The Malvani locality holds a significant Muslim population. It was the worst hit region during the 92-93 riots. It also has a church which is a bus stop known as the Malvani Church Stop. On the north side of Malvani there is a huge industrial area called as Charcop.
There are many good areas which are quiet and mostly the people living in these areas are Maharashtrians, Christians, Gujarati's and Marwadi's. These areas are Adarsh Nagar, Evershine Nagar, Raheja Complex, Orlem Areas (Lourdes colony & Tank Lane), Mamlatdar Wadi, Liberty Garden, Ramchandralane. The famous festivals celebrated in Malad are Navrathri, Diwali, Christmas and Ganpathi. Near the post office at Ramchandralane there is SNDT women's college. This college is the best place for females of middle class to study. It offers various courses in various streams thereby trying to educate as many females as possible. There are regular events at this college and the ground is often leased out for marriages and parties.
The Aksa, Erangal and Marve beaches are within accessible distance from Malad.

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Goregaon

View:- Chhota(small) Kasmir, Aray colony & Film city, Goregaon

Goregaon, pronounced as Goregam or Goregav is the name of a Mumbai suburban locality. It is 18th railway station from Churchgate on the Western Railway Line of Mumbai Suburban Railways.

Bracketed on either side of the railway line by the Western Express Highway and the Linking Road, it is primarily a middle-class residential neighbourhood. The famous cinema making spots such as Filmistan and Film City are located here.
Up to the late 1970s, the suburb was sparsely populated with the main residential localities springing up in Nagars (like Unnat Nagar, Motilal Nagar, Bangur Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Siddharth Nagar, Piramal Nagar) on the West and Wadis (like Pandurang wadi) and Jaiprakash Nagar on the East.
The Eastern boundary of the suburb was effectively the Western Express Highway after which the picturesque Aarey Milk Colony offered its forested charm to the region.
However, the housing boom of the 80s saw the locality spread its territory as well as increase its population density. On the East, newer areas such as Dindoshi, Gokuldham, Yashodham, Saibaba Complex, Film City Road, etc. and on the West, Bangur Nagar, Lokhandwala Complex (now considered a separate suburb) and Link Road were the development hubs. Despite the increase in population, rail and road infrastructure was the same and hence became stretched.
Besides the above, Goregaon (E) also is home to the recently developed area known as New Dindoshi consisting of the Nagari Nivara Parishad (popularly known as NNP), a housing scheme for the lower middle class. There are more than 30,000 people living at NNP distributed between two zones. These are one of the best housing schemes provided by government.
Despite this, the suburb still maintains its charm in the older pockets with shady trees lining the roads which are relatively well maintained.
What is now known as Goregaon Suburb is a conglomeration of Four Villages Pahadi, Goregaon, Aarey and Eksar. Goregaon got the Railway Station as early as in 1862. The suburb was one of the Four Railway Stations between Borivali and Grant Road. However, it was known as Pahadi. Name of the Railway Station was changed subsequently as people were getting confused in Pahadi and Paradi, a Railway Station in South Gujarat on BB&CI (now Western Railway). In fact even today on official records, one can see the name of tehasil as Pahadi Goregaon.
It is believed that the name of Village Goregaon come from the politically active Gore (pronounced Go-ray) family, who lived on the Western side of the suburb, literally meaning "Gore's village" in Marathi.
The prime land under Mango and Guava Plantation owned by Topiwala Desai family was taken over by Maharashtra government and handed over to Housing Board Mumbai sometime in 1950's.

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Jogeshwari

Jogeshwari is 17th down railway station from Churchgate. It is the name of a suburb of Mumbai. Tambdi Jogeshwari is a name of a Hindu god and Jogeshwari is housed with the temple of this god.The Western Trunk Route of Bombay was extended from Bandra to Jogeshwari in 1915. Before 1945, Jogeshwari was administered by a Collector in charge of the "Suburban District". With the creation of Greater Bombay in 1945, the administration was merged with the rest of Bombay city.
It is mostly populated by Muslims and Maharashtrians. However Natwar Nagar- located next to Scenic Ismail Yusuf college in Jogeshwari (East) is a Hindu predominated area and one of the best places to stay in Jogeshwari.
Jogeshwari is Connected to the Central Line via the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link road or JVLR as it is popularly known.
The Jogeshwari caves are located in the eastern part of this suburb. They are some of the earliest Hindu caves in the region and are dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. These caves are said to be older than the Elephanta Caves. The Jogeshwari caves are currently in a very poor condition as they are used for drying clothes and even as toilets by the surrounding slum population. Bat lovers will be amazed to see a huge colony of bats living in the caves.

View:- Jogeshwari caves

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Andheri

Andheri is 16th down railway station from Churchgate. It is a suburb of Mumbai city and also a one of the most crowded railway stations on the Mumbai Suburban Railways, (Western line). It is the fifth suburb among the Western suburbs. Like many other suburbs and areas of Mumbai, Andheri too is divided into an East and a West section, separated by the railway line.

The oldest settlements in and around Andheri were those of the East Indians, the natives whose villages survive in Amboli, Marol, Chakala, Gundowli, Sahar, Sakinaka etc.
Another concentration of the native East Indians was located on the former islet of Varsova, also known as Vasave.
In the early 1900s, as urbanization spread from Bombay northwards, Marathi, Gujarati and other settlers began to colonize the area.
The English actively encouraged this in order to take off population pressure from the congested city and to increase revenue inflows; however, as a result, the native East Indians came to be swamped, marginalized and their lands were usually expropriated without compensation, even as their access to the sea for fishing was cut, thus destroying their two means of livelihood: agriculture & fishing.
In the 1950s, the English built the Versova Causeway between Andheri on Sashti Island and the islet of Versova. The area on both sides of this causeway were rapidly filled in to develop areas now known as Dhake Colony, D.N. Nagar, Four Bungalows, Seven Bungalows etc.
One of the earliest colonies is the Dhake Colony on Versova Road, West Andheri. The five buildings of Dhake Colony were built around 1950, and they served as a landmark until recently. The area is now known as D.N. Nagar.
Another of these early settlements is Bhardawadi. This lane forms a vital link with S.V. Road for the residents of Versova Road. It has been inhabited for the last ninety years. In the past, there were bungalows on this road; these gave way to apartment buildings, although there are still a few old bungalows, which is rare in Mumbai. This lane bustles with the sound of traffic which passes through it to reach S.V. Road.
The popular Ganesha temple, Shree Vanchasiddhi Vinayak Ganesh Mandir, created in 1926, also contributed to the settlement of Andheri.
Before 1945, Andheri was administered by a Collector as the "Suburban District"; in that year, the former Suburban District was absorbed by Mumbai city as Greater Bombay. However, the Suburban District was once again revived in about 2000 as the Mumbai Suburban District.
Andheri today has a population exceeding four million, and as per record is by far the most populous suburb of Mumbai.
Contemporary West Andheri is largely a residential area, whereas East Andheri is has a mixture of commercial and residential areas, including MIDC-SEEPZ (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation- Santacruz Electronic and Export Promotion Zone), Saki Naka (an industrial area).
The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, is in Andheri East. Many Call Centers and BPOs are located in Chakala area of Andheri.
The World Bank has many plans for the development of the largely industrial East Andheri. Work on the project of connecting Versova to Ghatkopar (a central suburb) by an elevated Metro railway line has begun by expanding the existing roads so that spaces can be created for the railway's pillars, etc. After the Metro becomes operational in about 2011, travel time will be reduced from the present 1 hour 45 minutes to about 20 minutes.
East Andheri also has pockets of attractive residential areas, with quiet, tree-lined streets, easy connectivity to the Westrn Express Highway and without the congestion and perpetual traffic jams that afflict most residential areas in suburban Mumbai.

Mahakali Caves

In Andheri East, there are ancient caves, named after the Goddess Maha Kali. They are now in ruined condition but recently they have caught the attention of the government which is working to restore them. The Mahakali Caves are a group of 19 rock-cut monuments built between 1st century BC and 6th century CE. These Buddhdist monuments comprise of a chaitya, a number of viharas and cells. All they have been carved in a solid black basalt rock. The largest cave at Mahakali (Cave 9) has seven depictions of the Buddha and figures from Buddhist mythology but all are mutilated
The Vanchasiddhi temple of Lord Ganesh has the second highest number of devotees everyday after the Siddhivinayak temple in Dadar.
Vijay Nagar, on Marol Maroshi Road Bhawani Nagar, on Marol -Maroshi Road, are the residential landmarks in Andheri (East). The Marol Maroshi Bus Depot is a major bus terminus.
Andheri's East and West areas house some of the biggest and well know mall's and software companies in the whole of Mumbai. The biggest mall of Andheri, Infinity mall in the West houses on of India's biggest FM stations BIG FM and India's largest gaming portal Zapak, which is a Reliance ADA undertaking.

Gilbert Hill

Gilbert Hill is a 200 feet (61 m) monolith column of black basalt rock in Andheri, Mumbai. The rock has a sheer vertical face and was created when molten lava was squeezed out of the earth's clefts during the Mesozoic Era about 65 million years ago. During that era, molten lava had spread around most of the Indian states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, covering an area of 50,000 square kilometres (19,305 sq mi). The volcanic eruptions were also responsible for the destruction of plant and animal life during that era.
According to experts, this rare geological phenomenon was the remnants of a ridge and had clusters of vertical columns in nearby Jogeshwari which were quarried off two decades ago. These vertical columns are similar to the Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming, and the Devils Postpile National Monument in eastern California, USA. Atop the rock column, two Hindu temples, the Gaodevi and Durgamata temples, set in a small garden, are accessed by a steep staircase carved into the rock. The hill offers a panoramic view of the city of Mumbai. To get there via road, turn left at Kasimali Sakur Chowk on Swami Vivekanand Road, just before Andheri railway station and ask for directions to the temple atop Gilbert Hill which is a minute's drive away.
Hospitals at East side of Andheri Station:-
Mukund Hospital
Holy Spirit hospital
Hospitals at West side of Andheri Station:-
Cooper Hospital
Education Institutes in Andheri Station(East):-
Tolani College
Shri Chinai College
MVLU
West
Bhavans College
Sardar Patel College of Engineering
Cosmopolitan Education Sociaty's S.C.D.Barfiwala College of Science.
Shri Chaganlal Valia College of Commerce and Arts.
MOD-TECH College of Engineering
Seed InfoTech Institute
Marol Education Academy's High School, Marol Maroshi Road.
St.John the Evangelists High School.
Saint Dominic Savio High School
Canossa High School
Holy family High School
Divine Child High School
Our Lady Of Health High School - (Sahar)
Saint Xaviers High School
IIT Mumbai CBSE School - IIT Campus School
Lady Ratanbai & Sir Mathuradas Vissanji Academy
St. Anthony`s High School [Sakinaka]
Education Institutes in Andheri Station(west):-
A.H. Bhavans high school
St. Blaises High School
Marble Arch School
Bombay Cambridge High School
Hansraj Morarji Public School
Rajhans Vidyalaya CBSE
Versova Welfare School
S C D Barfiwala High School
Gyan Kendra School
City International School
Jankidevi Public School
Ashok Academy CBSE School
Raigad Military CBSE School
Swami Muktananda High School
Dawood Baugh Andheri Muncipal School

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