….and the award goes to…..MATHARPACADY
The Mobai Gaothan Panchayat (MGP) hosted their East Indian Community Awards on Saturday, 15th November 2025 at the St. Andrew’s Auditorium, Bandra. This was held in association with New Zealand Education Advertisers Ltd. (NZEA). This glittering ceremony recognised East Indians who were prominent contributors in various fields: law, medicine, graphic arts, couture, hospitality, education, music, culture, etc. Congratulations to the MGP led by Mr. Alphi D’Souza and their members for their good work in preserving our culture and heritage.
The East Indian Gaothan of the Year 2025 was awarded to Matharpacady.
At Matharpacady, we need to thank all the various contributors who made each of our events during the Sesquicentennial Jubilee a success – those who helped to organise the Republic Day celebrations on 26th Jan 2025, the Food Festival & Raffle in March 2025, the Sesquicentennial Jubilee celebrations of the Matharpacady Holy Cross – from designing the logo, the conduct of the choir as well as the Cross committee members for conducting the Novena and the Feast Mass and celebrations thereafter. Thanks to the Blessed Sacrament Fathers (SSS) for assisting at the Cross Feast Celebrations and arranging for the livestream of the Jubilee Mass on 1st May 2025. Thanks also go out to the Parish Fathers of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary and St. Anne’s Church for always assisting and encouraging us in our activities. Many thanks to the members of the Matharpacady Residents Welfare Association (MRWA) and the Trustees of St. Isabel’s High School for always helping us in all our endeavours. Thanks also to Kharwa and Mahapurush Decorators in helping us in lighting and decorating the area. Thanks also go out to our numerous donors and benefactors, all our non committee volunteers as well as our non catholic neighbours and friends for their help and cooperation. Let’s not forget our conservancy workers too, who help us maintain cleanliness of the village.
Have you ever imagined a 300-year-old heritage village in the heart of Mumbai – that seamlessly blends history with modern life? Well, that’s what you’ll experience here in Matharpacady!
Welcome to a place where every street holds a story, and every corner reveals a piece of history. For 300 years, Matharpacady has been a hub of culture, and tradition. It’s where these exquisite bungalows share a story with every visitor.
Walk through history with architecture and bungalows that have stood for centuries.
Traditional festivals that keep our heritage alive.
Discover history. Discover culture. Discover a place that’s still growing, still evolving, still living.
The name ‘Matharpacady’ stems from the Sanskrit word ‘Mathara’ which means ‘wise one’. This is what the Portuguese called their arbitrators who were known as ‘vereodores’. In return for their services to the Portuguese government, they were given parcels of land; Matharpacady was one such land given to an arbitrator in the 1820s. Other stories suggest that it either stems from the Marathi meaning of the words Mathar and Pakkadi that are used to describe a ‘cluster of dwellings on the forehead (hillock)’, or the Portuguese meaning of ‘oart’ meaning “garden of orchards”.
The Holy Cross Oratory is more than just a building; it’s a symbol of resilience and unity. Nestled in Matharpacady, one of the last heritage villages with Portuguese-style homes, it stands as a living testament to the East Indian community’s contribution to Mumbai. When Mumbai was ravaged by the scourge of the Great Plague in the 1896, our forefathers and their families assembled at the Holy Cross Oratory and prayed. On 1st May 2025, we celebrated 150 years of the Holy Cross Oratory—a beacon of hope that rose from the ashes of the Great Plague of 1875. When death swept through the Village, the people turned to prayer, trusting in the power of the Cross and the intercession of St. Roque. Through their faith, they built a sanctuary of stone, mud, and hope—a place that’s protected the Village from the forces of time, disaster, and those who would erase its legacy.
There is more to the sweetness of Matharpacady villagers than meets the eye — their Portuguese-influenced bungalows in Mazgaon goathan were constructed in the late 1800s using sugar and jaggery.
Here we find the lineage of Koli fishermen, the Bhandari Toddy Tappers, and the Kundi Agri farmers who converted during the Portuguese persecution and were later employed by the East India Company. Along with them, members of various Goan and Mangalorean clubs (“Coors”) from Goan and Mangalorean villages made this space their home.
Matharpacady was home to the city’s first Indian mayor Dr Mafalldo Ubaldo Mascarenhas, a freedom fighter, advocating the return of Portuguese Goa to India. Ex-communicated by the Portuguese government in Goa, he lived and worked in Bombay, to become the city Mayor in 1948-49. The Mascarenhas Road in Mazagon is named after him. Today his grandnephews stay in the bungalow.
Behind the oratory was a verdant hill with huge trees and a bungalow that stood on the hill, that belonged to Joseph “Kaka” Baptista, the freedom fighter who worked with Lokmanya Tilak. He went on to become the first president of Indian Home Rule League in 1916, and later the first India Mayor of Bombay, in 1925.
Come visit Matharpacady – where stories never grow old, and the adventure is just beginning.
Matharpacady Village is a Grade III Heritage precinct.
Credits – To the Mobai Gaothan Panchayat (MGP) for the video clip of the Community Awards Ceremony and the background East Indian Music from this Awards Ceremony.
