Author: Sharada Dwivedi
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: June 6, 2005
Introduction: Who gave Mumbai the
name it has today'? The legends speak of a goddess with a nose stud and
a mighty giant who roamed the islands
The Mumbadevi temple is historically
the most important heritage landmark (II-B) in the Kalbadevi area.
The original temple stood at the Phansi Talao (Gibbet Tank) on the Esplanade,
on a spot within the current limits of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus,
and gave the main island its name-Mumbai.
This temple miraculously escaped
destruction during Muslim and Portuguese rules.
But in the mid-18th century, the
British authorities demolished the original temple to provide additional
space for the fortifications. A goldsmith named Pandurang Shivaji Sonar
financed the construction of the present temple and the Mumbadevi tank
was built some decades later, in 1830, with funds provided by a Vani lady
named Putalibai.
According to Marathi writers, Acharya
and Shingne, however, the old temple was demolished only in 1803 and the
tank was built by Sheth Nagardas Navlakhya, a Kapol Vani.
The temple contains a stone image
of the goddess dressed in a robe and bodice with a silver crown, a nose
stud and golden necklaces, seated under a canopy of wood covered with silver
plates.
On the left is a stone figure of
Annapurna, who is worshipped with Mumbadevi and on special days sits on
a stone peacock. In front of the shrine is a brass tiger, the vahan or
carrier of the goddess, which was presented by a pearl merchant in 1890.
Other shrines within the Mumbadevi
complex are dedicated to Ganesh, Maruti, Mahadev, Indrayani, Murlidhar,
Jagannath, Narsoba and Balaji.
How did the name Mumbadevi originate?
Acharya and Shingne state that there was a general belief that the goddess
was installed some time around the late 14th century by a Koli.
Mumbadevi was the kuladevata
of the Kolis. Names such as Munga, Shimgi, Mauna and Mongu are popular
among Koli women. It seems likely that a Koli woman established the original
temple and named it after herself. In time, Munga may have become Mumba
and the name came into popular use.
K Raghunathji, a scholar and city
historian of the late 19th century, wrote of the Mumbadevi Puran in Sanskrit,
in Hindu Temples of Bombay, 1900:
"It is stated therein that in times
of yore, there lived in this island a very powerful and mighty giant bearing
the name of Mumbarak, and the island had derived its name from him.
"By means of austerities he pleased
Brahmadev and prayed to him to be favoured with a blessing that he would
be incapable of meeting with death at anybody's hands, and that he
would ever prove successful.
"Having once secured the blessing,
he set out to harass both people and the Gods on earth. All the Gods therefore
proceeded en masse to Vishnu to seek his protection and prayed to him to
destroy their foe.
"Upon this, Vishnu and Shiv extracted
a portion of lustre, each from his own body, and made of it a goddess or
Devi for the giant. The goddess then beat Mumdarak almost to death and
threw him down on the ground and told him to ask for a blessing. He entreated
her to join his own name with her's and to perpetuate that name on
earth.
"The goddess accordingly granted
his prayer and named herself Mumbadevi. The giant may perhaps be Mumbarak
(Mubarak) the first, and the Mumbadevi Puran may have been composed in
this way.
"It can also be supposed that the
Emperor Mumbarak may have given this island his own name and called it
Mumbapur."
There was a time, not so long ago,
when this unique, cosmopolitan city, formerly the capital of Bombay
Presidency and Bombay state, functioned perfectly with the names MumbaiBambai-Bombay-depending
on the language of communication.
In 1960, the city became the capital
of the newly created state of Maharashtra and on May 4, 1995, the state
government renamed the city Mumbai.