The East Indian community held a Thanksgiving service on Monday at the church of Our Lady of Velankanni, Irla, Vile Parle, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the founding of the community organisation, the Mobai Gaothan Panchayat.
The MGP has worked to preserve the community’s traditions, cuisine, attire, and architectural heritage. The East Indians, formerly called Portuguese Christians, are among Mumbai’s earliest inhabitants. Their history dates back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when missionaries converted local castes to Roman Catholicism.
The community that lives in villages, called gaothans, in Raigad, Thane, Mumbai, and Palghar districts, has been concerned about the disappearance of their culture as Mumbai and its suburbs swallow up their villages. While some localities like Khotachiwadi and Bandra’s villages survive, others have been lost. East Indian enclaves like Khotachiwadi in Girgaon and Matharpakady in Mazagon are protected precincts under Mumbai’s heritage conservation rules.
Thanksgiving service at Irla church |
To mark the anniversary, the organisation has published a special edition of the newsletter, Gaothan Voice, which was released on Monday.
During the 15 years, the organisation has created the Kaka Baptista East Indian Museum at Manori, the East Indian Community Awards, a community market called the East Indian Bazaar, East Indian Food Festival, a community fund, a calendar, an annual festival, and a dictionary in the East Indian dialect of Marathi.
Woman in a contemporary drape of the East Indian Lugra saree which is undergoing a revival |
The group has also helped preserve religious traditions like the Mot Mauli Purcessao Yatra, held during the Bandra fair, music, and crafts, said Clayson Fonseca, MGP’s gaothan coordinator for Irla.
In the next 10 years, the group has planned a Kaka Baptista East Indian Gardens, a themed park named after East Indian freedom fighter and lawyer, Joseph Baptista, St Gonsalo Garcia project to honour India’s First Catholic saint who was from the community, am
East Indian Bhavan, and cultural, educational, and sports projects. Other plans include a community census and a project to conserve and protect the centuries-old crucifixes dotting the gaothans.
