Know Your Bombay! – 18th February 2017

[otw_shortcode_info_box border_style=”bordered” css_class=”boxed”]Parsi Times brings you interesting facts about our beloved Bombay! Explore this city’s amusing history and get to know why and how so many streets and places got their names with KYB![/otw_shortcode_info_box]

Parel

Parel was originally one of the seven islands of Bombay and was linked up with the other islands in the 19th Century. Parel and Lower Parel are different places and stations with the former being on central railway and sharing its FOB (Foot Over Bridge) with Elphinstone Road Railway Station on Western Railway. In 1867, tanners and dealers in dry fish were relocated in this area and by 1870s, several cotton mills had been established in the reclaimed lands in Parel (West)..

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Sion

In 1543, the Portuguese took possession of the islands of Bombay by force, naming it Sião later they gave the sole ownership of some of these islands to the Jesuit priests who built a chapel on the hill near the present-day railway station and named it after Mount Zion (Sion) in Jerusalem. The Marathi name for Sion is Sheev which means boundary or limit. One of the local historical places in Sion is a hilltop garden commonly known as Sion Fort or Sion Killa in native language Marathi.