Worli
Encyclopedia
Worli is a locality (city) in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

. Historic spellings: Varli, Worlee, Warli.

History

Worli was one of the original seven islands that constituted the city of Mumbai. Although primarily a fishing village, the Worli Fort
Worli Fort
thumb|250px|Old map of the region .The Worli Fort is a fort built by the British in Worli, Mumbai , India. The fort, often mistakenly referred to as being built by the Portuguese, was actually built by the British around 1675. The fort, built on the Worli hill, overlooked the Mahim Bay at a time...

, a British fort that is now in ruins, is located there. Its original resident was the legendary Dishankeshwar Kalsi who has also been recognized in several periodicals of the time as India's first homosexual stage performer. Kalsi's lavanis were popular across the western coast of India and he was known to perform questionable acts on stage with his pet goat. He was eventually shot dead by a British soldier, allegedly his lover, when he caught Dishankeshwar in a compromising position with a rooster.

Worli became popular as the residence of the Kalsi due to the popularity of Dishankeshwar. It also has a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

, the Haji Ali Dargah
Haji Ali Dargah
The Haji Ali Dargah is a mosque and dargah located on an islet off the coast of Worli in the Southern part of Mumbai. Near the heart of the city proper, the dargah is one of the most recognisable landmarks of Mumbai....

, on a rock in the sea, which was connected at low-tide to the island by a natural causeway
Causeway
In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...

. The island of Worli was connected to the main island of Mumbai in 1784, with the completion of the Hornby Vellard
Hornby Vellard
The Hornby Vellard was a project to build a causeway uniting all seven islands of Bombay into a single island with a deep natural harbour. The project was started by the governor William Hornby in 1782 and all islands were linked by 1838...

. The Hornby Vellard is now known as Lala Lajpat Rai Road.

In 1842, the Love Grove sewage pumping station was completed. It has special mitre
Mitre
The mitre , also spelled miter, is a type of headwear now known as the traditional, ceremonial head-dress of bishops and certain abbots in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, and also bishops and certain other clergy in the Eastern Orthodox...

 gates opening to the sea, which are opened during periods of low tide. The pumping station is built on Dr Annie Besant road which was formerly known as the Love Grove Road.

The British had built four bungalows for its administrative heads on the stretch ahead of the Love Grove Pumping station back in the 1930s. These bungalows are now replaced by the ATRIA Mall...

Geography

Worli is a part of South Mumbai which extends from Haji Ali to Prabhadevi
Prabhadevi
Prabhadevi is a small up-scale district neighbourhood of Mumbai city, situated between the Shivaji Park Residential Zone to the north and Worli to the south and the Arabian Sea to the west...

. It is bounded by the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...

 to the west and the neighbourhoods of Haji Ali to the south, Mahalaxmi
Mahalaxmi (location)
Mahalaxmi is a neighbourhood within Mumbai. It is also the name of a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway.-History:Mahalaxmi Temple is one of the most famous temples of Mumbai. Built around 1785, the history of this temple is supposedly connected with the building of the Hornby Vellard...

 to the east and Prabhadevi
Prabhadevi
Prabhadevi is a small up-scale district neighbourhood of Mumbai city, situated between the Shivaji Park Residential Zone to the north and Worli to the south and the Arabian Sea to the west...

 to the north. The nearest railway station to the neighbourhood is Mahalaxmi
Mahalaxmi (railway station)
Mahalaxmi Station is a railway station of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. Trains starting from Churchgate Station pass through Mahalaxmi.Major landmarks in the area are the Mahalaxmi Temple, Haji Ali Dargah and Mahalaxmi Racecourse. The station is very important as it is the nearest station to...

.

With the commissioning of the Sealink, Worli Sea-Face is now better connected with Western Suburbs.

Commercial development

Worli has been one of the busiest office areas in Mumbai since the late 70's. The first major development was the Shivsagar Estate located on Dr Annie Besant
Annie Besant
Annie Besant was a prominent British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self rule.She was married at 19 to Frank Besant but separated from him over religious differences. She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society ...

 Road. The major companies having properties here are GSK Pharma, TATA
Tata Group
Tata Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Tata Group is one of the largest companies in India by market capitalization and revenue. It has interests in communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy,...

, Novartis
Novartis
Novartis International AG is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number three in sales among the world-wide industry...

, HDFC Bank
HDFC Bank
HDFC Bank Limited is a major Indian financial services company based in India, incorporated in August 1994, after the Reserve Bank of India allowed establishing private sector banks. The Bank was promoted by the Housing Development Finance Corporation, a premier housing finance company of India...

, Yes Bank
Yes Bank
YES Bank Limited is an Indian Bank, engaged in providing a range of banking and financial services. The Bank’s business segments include Treasury, Corporate/Wholesale Banking, Retail Banking, Corporate Finance, Transaction Banking and a host of other Banking services...

, Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...

 and many more.

Till September 1997 Poonam Chambers had the offices of companies like ESAB
ESAB
ESAB, Elektriska Svetsnings-Aktiebolaget , is a Swedish industrial company.-History:The Company was founded by Oscar Kjellberg, who pioneered the development of manual metal arc welding electrodes, in Gothenburg in 1904...

, US Vitamins But after the building collapsed they had to shift. The latest developments are happening in the old Mill lands with many television stations having their studios in them. Even multinational companies like Deloitte have set their base in Worli. Even malls have emerged with Launch of Atria on 20 May 2006.

The Worli-Bandra Sealink (is also known as the Rajiv Gandhi Sagar Setu) is located on Worli Sea Face. It was built in 2009 and the island of Worli to Bandra across the Arabian Sea. It first opened in July 2009. Now it is going to be expanded with another Sealink to Lala Rajpat Rai Road and Marine Drive.

The PIN Codes (Postal codes) for Worli are 400018 and 400030. The known MTNL Telephone prefixes are 2421, 2422, 2437, 2490, 2491, 2492, 2493, 2494, 2495, 2496, 2497 and 2498.

Residential areas

Although primarily Worli is a commercial district, it has seen residential developments from very early days of Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

. Worli was a mill land and many mill workers resided in the chawls near Worli Naka.

The BDD (Bombay Development Department) chawls in Worli are the earliest and the largest of the current residential areas in Worli.

The Worli Seaface is also a major residential area mostly resided by the Rich and Famous people of Mumbai and extends from Worli Fort in the north to Narayan Pujari Nagar (Mela Restaurant corner) in the south. Worli Seaface has been a very pretty landmark for Mumbai and can be seen in many Bollywood movies from the early 50's till today. The Promenade at the Seaface is one of the busiest in the city of Mumbai with thousands of Mumbaikars coming here for their Morning or Evening walks. It is also famous for the giant waves during the monsoons. The Worli Sea-Face also marks as one of the ends of Bandra-Worli Sea link
Bandra-Worli Sea Link
The Bandra–Worli Sea Link , also known as the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link , is a cable-stayed bridge with pre-stressed concrete-steel viaducts on either side, that links Bandra and the western suburbs of Mumbai with Worli...

.

Other big residential areas are the Adarsh Nagar located near Prabhadevi and Narayan Pujari Nagar, locally known as "Colony" located at the southern end of Worli Seaface.

Some of the famous residential landmarks of Worli include Samudra Mahal, Eden Hall, Poonam Apartments, Venus Apartments, Worli Hill, Avarsekar Heights & Worli Dairy Supervisor Colony.

Currently major residential developments are going on along the stretch or Dr. E. Moses Road leading towards Lower Parel. Some of the apartment buildings at Worli are Urmi, Nishika, Basant Parvati and Sagar Tarang. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the Canadian hospitality giant has opened its first property in India which is located on Dr. E. Moses Road.

Other Business Districts of Mumbai

  • Fort (Mumbai precinct)
    Fort (Mumbai precinct)
    Fort is a business district in Mumbai, India. The area was the heart of the city during the 18th century. The area gets its name from the defensive fort, Fort St. George, built by the British East India Company around Bombay Castle...

  • Nariman Point
    Nariman Point
    Nariman Point is Mumbai's premier business district and country's first central business district. It was named after Khursheed Framji Nariman, a Parsi visionary. The area is situated on land reclaimed from the sea. It had the distinction of having the highest commercial real estate rental space...

  • Colaba
    Colaba
    Colaba is a part of the city of Mumbai, India, and also a Lok Sabha constituency. During Portuguese rule in the 16th century, the island was known as Candil...

  • Vashi
    Vashi
    Vashi is an upmarket residential as well as commercial township in the city of Navi Mumbai. It is a premier city in Navi Mumbai and was one of the first "nodes" developed by CIDCO.-Populace:...

  • CBD Belapur
    CBD Belapur
    CBD Belapur is the third most developed node of Navi Mumbai after Vashi and Nerul. CBD Belapur has a fairly vibrant Central Business District that is moving some of the economy out of congested central Mumbai into the hinterland. Belapur is also one of the largest assembly constituencies from this...

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