The tagline of the Fadnavis government’s advertising campaign is ‘Maharashtra is changing’. And it actually is! Now Oshiwara Station is ‘Ram Mandir’, CST is ‘CSMT’ (M stands for ‘Maharaj’) and now Elphinstone Road is Prabhadevi! More changes are in the pipeline. As BMC elections come closer, the ‘change’ will be more evident.
And if you think it’s a BJP ploy to win Marathi votes in the area, you could be right, but here’s a surprise! The demand to change the name was initially made by Ramesh Parab, a local office bearer of the NCP! He had been following it up with various ministers in the State as well as Rail Bhawan for the last 15 years. No wonder then that the resolution was passed unanimously in the Assembly.
If Victoria Terminus becomes Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, why should Elphinstone Road not be changed to Prabhadevi? Thousands come every year for the jatra at Prabhadevi temple. When a railway station is named, the neighbourhood comes on the national map. We are all very happy today.Ramesh Parab, South Central Mumbai District President, NCP
Elphinstone Solved Mumbai’s Water Woes
As nobody is lamenting the unceremonious removal of Mr Elphinstone’s name, it would be interesting to find out who he was. Lord John Elphinstone the Thirteenth was the Governor of Bombay between 1853 to 1860, the last Governor while the city was still under the East India Company.
The former Scottish lieutenant is credited with solving Mumbai’s water problem in the mid19th century by building the city’s first reservoir, Vihar Lake. Mumbai was facing an acute water shortage in June 1840s and 50s. All the wells had gone dry and people had started protesting. That’s when Lord Elphinstone, who had earlier served as Governor of Madras, came to Mumbai. He built Vihar Lake on Mithi River, inside what is today called Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The lake still provides water to Mumbai city.
John Elphinstone was a handsome man. It was rumoured that he was packed off to India as the young queen had fallen for him. While in Madras, he took a keen interest in education, setting up English schools and colleges. But he had to spend most of his time during his stint in Mumbai firefighting, as the first war of freedom broke out in 1857. According to The Dictionary of National Biography, which chronicles the history of 29,000 notable figures from Britain:
“Elphinstone checked attempts made at a rising at a few places in his presidency and put down the insurrection of the Rajah of Sholapur. He discovered a conspiracy in Bombay itself, and he seized the ringleaders. and prevented the conspiracy from coming to anything. He sent many of his troops elsewhere.”
Incidentally, he was the second Elphinstone to be posted in Bombay. Three decades ago, from 1819 to 1827, his uncle Mountstuart Elphinstone was the Governor of Bombay. Uncle Elphinstone is said to have played a pioneering role in India’s education system. Before coming to Bombay, he had worked as the assistant to the British resident at the court of the Peshwa Baji Rao II. He was also responsible for the defeat of Marathas in the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803. No wonder all parties are united to remove his family's name from the map of Maharashtra.
Prabhadevi is Witness to the Change
In 1715, a hundred years before Uncle Elphinstone landed in Bombay, Prabhadevi temple was built. Although Siddhvinayak Temple, which is hardly 500 metres away, has eclipsed the popularity of this ancient temple today, thousands had come to celebrate its 300th anniversary last year.
Three centuries ago, Mumbai was a group of 7 islands and Prabhadevi was on the coast of Mahim Island. The nearest islands were Worli and Parel. British king Charles II had got these islands as part of a dowry from the Portuguese. He rented them to the East India Company, which eventually merged all the islands by 1845.
The tranquil temple of Prabhadevi has seen the changing face of Mumbai, from a collection of sleepy islands inhabited by fishermen to a thriving British colony. From a port city to a city of mills. There were dozens of mills in south central Mumbai, which is aptly called ‘Girangaon’ (village of mills) in Marathi. The entire area had only textile mills and chawls for mill workers.
One by one, the mills shut down, and the chawls were pulled down to build skyscrapers. The temple stood witness as its neighbours changed from mills to malls. Change is routine here. When the name of the 149-year-old railway station is changed from ‘Elphinstone Road’ to ‘Prabhadevi’, it is a victory of the 18th century over the 19th. It is an attempt to remove the marks of our colonial past. It is also a game to win over emotional voters ahead of elections.
(With inputs from Kirti Phadtare Pande)
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