Three years ago when the "Parsi” Gate at Marine Drive was removed because of work on the coastal road, there had been an outcry from the community, especially over social media. The authorities had promised that the over a century old Gate would be reinstalled and they have been true to their word. The Gate is now back, placed 70 m north of its original position.
"All permissions had been secured before moving the pillars, including that of the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC),” a Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) official told Sunday Mumbai Mirror (SMM) of October 6, 2024. "We also preserved the pillars and all the materials safely so that while relocating it’s done in the same manner,” the official added. Utmost care was taken to ensure that the Gate be reassembled correctly.
The reinstalled Parsi Gate at Marine
Drive with inscription
"We started the reassembly around three months ago by placing the base of the pillar… (and) an information plaque beside it that would state its significance both in English and Marathi,” said Rahul Chemburkar, a conservation architect from Vaastu Vishan Projects who worked with the BMC on the relocation. "The restoration of this unique heritage is testimony to how Bombay, while going ahead with new, modern infrastructure like the coastal road, retains its old legacy,” Chemburkar informed SMM. He, however, admitted that the flight of stairs descending to the seashore has doubled from the previous single flight due to limitations of the new location.
Colaba resident Havovi Sukhadwala, who had started an online petition against the moving of the "Parsi” Gate in 2021, remains dissatisfied. She told SMM, "My petition was to not shift the Gate and the platform made of stone at all and to conserve the beach to enable us to access the waters safely at low tide… The new location is neither functional nor safe to access the waters to pray. Also, it now has narrow steps allowing only one person at a time to go up or come down.”
In her petition she had detailed the historical and religious significance of the "Parsi” Gate where "Zoroastrians of Bombay have been paying respect to Avan Yazad (the water deity) for more than a century… Hindus… use this to immerse the offerings at Poornima and ashes from the Chandanwadi crematorium at Marine Lines.” The Gate, built in 1915 by businessman Pallonji Mistry and philanthropist Bhagojisheth Kheer, came into existence even before Marine Drive was constructed.
However, not all Parsis have been in agreement with Sukhadwala’s petition. Writing to Parsiana, Cmde Medioma Bhada (Retd) opined that he would not sign the petition because "I believe these pillars are just a gate or access to the vast expanse of the water body (the sea) that both Hindus and Parsis consider sacred. The Gate is not holy per se; it is the sea that is holy whether at Chowpatty, Worli or the Gateway of India. Even our learned clergy has not declared any religious significance attached to these pillars” (see "Saving the Parsi Gate?” Readers’ Forum, October 21-November 6, 2020).
Sherene Vakil