Matharpacady Village of Mazgaon in South Mumbai

Matharpacady village is self-contained with houses and altars. It boasts of some of the city’s oldest and quaintest houses made of stone and wood. These houses had tiled roofs and were colorful structures with open verandahs. A few of them remain even now and they are great examples of Indo-Portuguese architecture that the Portuguese left behind as their legacy.

Mazgaon was once famous for its mango trees which would bear fruit twice a year. These mangoes were a celebrated commodity, and the Mazgaon mangoes find a mention as the ‘Mangoes of Mazagong’ in the epic poem Lallah Rookh by Thomas Moore in 1817.

The Oart Holy Cross Oratory & Its Age-Old Tradition of Matharpacady

The Holy Cross Oratory in this village was built by the residents in the late 1890s when Bombay was struck by plague. They offered prayers to St Roque – the patron saint of epidemics, for the protection of their loved ones. And legend has it that not a single Matharpacady resident fell a prey to that epidemic.

The tradition of praying at the Holy Cross Oratory has been going on for more than a century and has been kept alive by the residents who gather every evening even today and offer prayers and thanksgiving for protecting them through good and bad times.

According to a resident St John Valladares, this faith in the Cross has been kept alive for 87 summers. Every year from April 22 onwards, the community gathers at the Cross for thanksgiving with a rosary, litanies to Our Lady, the Holy Cross and St Roque, that culminate into a feast of the Cross on May 1. Everyone from grandparents to toddlers – all join in the prayers; and it is a way of thanking God for the well-being of all. Prayers are also offered for a good monsoon, which is another tradition from the community’s farming days.

According to another resident John Borges who lives here in Matharpacady since 1958, there have been a few changes. Earlier they had the litanies in Latin; but keeping in tune with the times, the music has also changed. However, the essence of thanksgiving still remains the same. Now the younger generation actively participates for they feel it is an important part of their spiritual heritage and they want to keep in touch with their roots.

The Matharpacady Club of Mazgaon Now

The Matharpacady Club, a grand 100 year old structure, is amid a pile of rubble now. The Club celebrated its centenary in 2006, but sadly before it could be protected under heritage listings, the Duartes who owned the place sold it to a builder.

When construction pits were excavated, electricity and water supply were cut off. Hence the senior citizens of the area abandoned their evening haunt. The club now looks like a broken-down old-age home where the card tables and carom boards gather dust. There is rubble everywhere and during monsoon rainwater pours in.

Matharpacady Village of South Mumbai Now

Sitting in the veranda of their old lovely cottages, enjoying the quiet of their old homes, attending community prayers, celebrating festivals together… these are some of the stories of Matharpacady’s enduring past.

This  village was officially awarded a Grade III Heritage Structure status. But now this is just another crowded, unclean and unknown lane in Mumbai. It has become a victim of property encroachment. Some houses in Matharpacady village have been sold because the owners are too old and retired and cannot afford the high maintenance cost. But some old residents like Parviz Mazgaonwala who is above 80, do not want to sell nor move out of Matharpacady unlike some of her friends who have left.

Matharpacady that was once beautiful with mango, plantain, and neem trees has turned into a dumping area with godowns, warehouses and garages in the vicinity. The lack of conservation knowledge, ill-advised repairs, loss of original building materials, unaffordable maintenance costs, threaten the survival of Matharpacady heritage village amidst the towering skyscrapers. There are now in Matharpacady three buildings – Manish Apartments, Monark Apartments and Sakhari Apartments which have come in place of some of the village’s original structures.

Matharpacady has been fast losing its identity and socio-cultural history of over 300-odd years. One wonders if Matharpacady will survive. There are talks of transforming Matharpacady into tourism region. A visit to this small, humble, picturesque village with Portuguese architecture would be a very memorable one. Being in the heart of Mumbai city, it is easily approachable by government run buses and taxis.

The prominent landmarks nearby are – the Gunpowder Lane that came as a result of the armory, the Megaton Court, and the Sales Tax office.

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