Etymology never cases to fascinate. the names of places- why they are what they are -is a discovery.
Mumbai is where it is at. to continue... from my post on GOLIBAR...
Borivali- a landscape of BOR (zizyphus spp) trees and shrubs. there are many remnants around.
WORLI- stems from the name VAD- banyan (Ficus bengalensis). Perhaps there were a few huge banyan trees dotting the pre-colonial landscape.
WADALA- again from VAD.
CHIKUWADI- from CHIKOO (Achras sapota). this a very common name in many areas of mumbai and navi mumbai. The chikoo tree seems be a favorite of the pre-colonial landscape.
JAMBLI GALLI- a street in borivli. beckons a street lined with JAMBHUL/JAMUN trees
(Syzygium cumini- black jamun,Eugenia jambolana- regular jamun).
TARDEO- stems from TAAD (Palmyra palm- Borassus flabellifer).known to grow in marshy soil, it has been found in fossil forms in mumbai by Geologists mapping the city.
FANASWADI- a place sacred to many hindus for the Balaji Temple located there. name stems from FANAS (Jackfruit- Artocarpus heterophylla).
UMERKHADI- literally - a swamp with fig trees. UMBAR- Ficus glomerata. KHadi- swamp/ marsh.
MATUNGA- a anglicized pronunciation of MATANGA- meaning elephant.
MITHI RIVER- meaning Salty river. MITH- is salt in marathi. Romantics say that the mithi river means sweet river. MEETHI means sweet.
From my elementary understanding of tides and sea action,i fail to see how a inland river ending as a tidal creek (which is what the mithi river is in reality) can have "sweet" water. the soluble salts will make any "meethi" water into "mith" water.
KHARGHAR- A corruption of the term KARAWAS GHAR- meaning Jail. There is a jailcomplex in Khargar even today and urban legend says kharghar was the detention area of prisoners even in the pre-colonial days.
GHATKOPAR- a union of Ghat- meaning hilly area/ hilly traverse and KOPRA- meaning corner in marathi. there are extant hills in Ghatkopar. the areas that flood are the valleys.
KANDIVALI (possibly khandavli...meaning a forest. name perhaps derived from the mahabharata, alluding to the pre-development extents of the national park forest)
Much has been expounded on the meanings/ derivation of present day names of places in mumbai. notable ones in recent times include Sharda Dwivedi and R.Mehrotra (Bombay- Cities Within) and Gillian Tindall (City of Gold).
Names that remain unresolved... for lack of a theory...
MALAD
POISUR
JOGESHWARI
ANDHERI
KHAR ROAD (possibly a road to a jail -KHAR/ or road through a marsh KHARI)
KURLA
JARIMARI
VASHI
URAN
PANVEL
BELAPUR
MANDAPESHWAR (an area with buddhist era caves in borivli)
DAHISAR
KOPAR KHAIRANE
VIKHROLI
AIROLI
AKURLI
BHANDUP
MULUND
GANJAWALA lane...(it is tempting to think of it as a street lined with/ leading to a field of Ganja...Cannabis sativa -aka Marijuana)
KASHIMIRA
BHAYANDER
Hmmm..this one can keep me busy till the end of time.:)
jari mari has two origins:
ReplyDeleteone the jari work done by the ppl living there
two the jari mari mata whom the people of that community worship
Golibar:
ReplyDeletecomes from the terms Goli-bahr/ Goli paar (beyond bullets) and Golibari (shower of bullets). This locality in Santacruz(E)was formerly the edge of a firing range belonging to the Indian Air Force, whose office is located adjoining the Western Express Highway.
Source: Local.