A blog on Bhandup - The City, its people, its culture.

Bhandup is a suburb of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, in the state of Maharashtra, India and is also the name of a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Central Railway line. The word Bhandup is derived from the name Bhandupeshwar, which is one of the names of Lord Shiva. An old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva - the Bhandupeshwar Mahadev Mandir - still stands in Bhandup West.

BHANDUP

History

The earliest records for Bhandup come from 1803, and show that the erstwhile Bhandup estate comprised Bhandup, Nahur and Kanjur Marg.

BHANDUP - RAILWAY STATION

Bhandup is one of the oldest suburbs in Mumbai. Bhandup is home to Shivaji Talao, or Shivaji Lake, named after the great Maratha ruler, Chhatrapati Shivaji At the lake, hordes of Ganapati devotees immerse idols of the elephant god Ganesh during the months of August through September. Bhandupeshwar Kundh in Bhandup Village East near the Eastern Express Highway also has hordes of Ganapati devotees immersing idols of the elephant god during the same season.

Before real estate prospered 40 years ago, Bhandup was a dense forest area that gradually saw the growth of industries, and now is becoming a very prominent location for real estate investors, as it has considerable opportunity for further growth.

Bhandup has Asia's biggest water filtration plant.

Kanjurmarg and Nahur (Eastern sections) almost blend into Bhandup without clear demarcation

Industries

According to the 2001 census, the number of industrial establishments in Bhandup (S-Ward) were 12380, cumulatively providing employment to 36921 residents of Bhandup. The rest of the employed populace are employed outside the limits of the S-ward.

One of the first industries to start in this area was Crompton Greaves in 1937, currently in Kanjur Marg. Currently, almost all of the industries in Bhandup are in Bhandup West. Some of them include CEAT Tyres, Asian Paints Limited, BASF,The Indian Smelting And Refining Company Limited etc. Apart from these big companies, there are several small-scale manufacturing units all over Bhandup West.

The presence of a large number of industries, coupled with large traffic flows all throughout the day had led to Bhandup's air being one of the worst in Mumbai a few years ago. However, several of the polluting industries have moved out of Mumbai in the past few years, leading to the air quality being slightly better.

Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Visarjan
Public celebrations of the festival are hugely popular, with local communities (mandalas) vying with each other to put up the biggest statue and the best pandal. The festival is also the time for cultural activities like singing and theater performances, orchestra and community activities like free medical checkup, blood donation camps, charity for the poor, etc

Notable personalities from Bhandup

• Arun Kumar - Prominent cricket player and product manager
• Sanjay Dina Patil - Member of Parliament-North-East Mumbai and NCP Nationalist Congress Party
• Ashok Dharamraj Patil - Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (B.E.S.T.)Chairman
• Sardar Tara Singh - Mulund MLA
• Dhananjay Mahadik - Indian National Hockey Player
• Sanjay Raut -Saamna Editor and Shiv Sena leader
• Parshuram Koparkar -trade union leader
• Subhashji Bane - Ex-MLA, Indian National Congress
• Suresh Koparkar -Indian National Congress Leader
• Om Puri-Famous Bollywood Actor used to stay here before getting into Bollywood

Vada pav

Vada pav (Marathi: वडा पाव), sometimes spelled wada pav or vada paav, is a popular spicy vegetarian fast food dish native to the Indian state of Maharashtra.It is originated in Mumbai. It consists of a batata vada sandwiched between two slices of a pav. The compound word batata vada refers in Marathi to a vada (fritter) made out of batata, the latter referring to a potato. Pav refers to unsweetened bread or bun. It is also known as an Indian burger.