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Khar Danda is a major village on the Salsette Island of Mumbai, India. Located on the north-western coast of Bandra district. It is a fishing village inhabited by the Koli & East Indian Catholics who are also the original inhabitants of the city and suburb of Mumbai. This village is famously known for its quaint fishing business, modern piers, colorful fishing vessels, and traditional homemade soft liquor extracted from fermented fruits known as Sara, in ancient Hindi known as Sura (alcoholic drink).

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Khar Danda Koliwada Danda Gaothan
Village
Nickname:  Danda Gaon
Khar Danda Koliwada Location in Mumbai, India
Coordinates: 19.07°N 72.82°E / 19.07; 72.82
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District	Mumbai Suburban
City	Mumbai
Government
• Type	Municipal Corporation
• Body	Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (MCGM)
Population
• Total	17,583
Languages
• Official	Koli, East Indian Catholics.
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	400052
Area code	022
Civic agency	BMC[1]
Website	https://khardanda.godaddysites.com/

It is also an eponym for Khar Road. One of the oldest settlements in Mumbai and the original inhabitants of Mumbai have been living here for centuries.

Khar Danda is a popular location considered while shooting Bollywood, Hollywood movies and documentaries. Several blockbuster movies have been shot here including Akshay Kumar's Special 26.

Danda Havli

Varin Pada Havli Holi, is one of the first public Hindu festivals ever granted by the British -India government, which was approved on 12th of March, 1922. Before this every year the fishermen's from Khar Danda used to gather wood from Bandra for the annual holi bush fire tradition. But, once due to the lack of trees available in the Khar and Bandra region they started visiting other nearby villages, which resulted in heated arguments and violent fights between the fishermen's of Khar Danda & the other nearby villagers who accused them for stealing wood from wells and carts. A tale follows that The Goddess Holika appeared to the fishermen and commanded them to always celebrate Holi 2 days prior to the Hindu calendar so that there is sufficient wood available for all. Then Carter Perry Sr, a suburban collector of British was amused to hear this tale and officially gazetted this festival on 12th of March, 1922. Since then Holi is celebrated 2 days before the actual date. Also Mumbai Police is always the guest of honor present to celebrate along with the villagers.

The entire village every year is decorated with lights and diyas, sweets are distributed, and the fishermen and women perform pooja a ritual for their colorful fishing boats.

Reference Reference

History

Bandra has been known to be a natural harbor since ancient times, then called "Bandora". Khar Danda & Chimbai were the only suitable shores for habitation. Chimbai village was a small rocky wetland then and was frequently flooded during monsoons due to being in a low-lying area. The fishermen community hence preferred to settle in Khar Danda. During the Portugal Era, the Portuguese sailors along with the villagers built a beacon on a coral reef near Khar Danda, which is till date battling the sea tides and alerting the fishermen and the sailors about the sea rock's presence in that area, previously named as "Uarashi Reef" and now renamed to "Varashi Reef". The Ministry of Home, Maharashtra government has its office of the regional port officer in Khar Danda. During 1944 Bombay explosion, Khar Danda residents opened doors for around hundreds of people. A few generations later as the community grew in this Koliwada, the local panchayat Danda Koli Samaj divided the village into small gaothans in order to ease the management. The gaothan were named Dandpada, Madhala pada, Kotpada, Patilpada, Varin Pada & Vetalpada with each gaothan having its own deity. Soon after the Bombay land reclamation progressed Hanuman Nagar & Gulab Nagar were added to the official map of Khar Danda.

Khar Danda gaothans

See also

• Pali Naka
• Khar, Mumbai

References

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