Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Vasai Fort Vasai Village




From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vasai is a large fort in Vasai village, in the Vasai taluka (county) of the District of Palghar, Konkan Division, Maharashtra State, Republic of India. The name "Bassein" is the English version of the Portuguese "Baçaim" (with the "ç" spoken as "s" and with the "m" silent), itself a version of an apparently native name that may have a connection to the Vasa Konkani tribals of the North Konkan region, extending from Mumbai into "South Gujarat." The Marathi name of the place is Vasai.

The complete form of the Portuguese name is "Fortaleza de São Sebastião de Baçaim" or the Fort of St. Sebastian of Vasai. The Vasai fort is a monument of national importance and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.[1]

The fort and the village are accessible most easily through the Vasai Road Railway Station, which itself is in Manikpur-Navghar, a part of the newly raised City of Vasai-Virar (See "Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation"), and lies to the immediate north of the cities of Mumbai and Mira Road-Bhayander. The "Vasai Road" Railway Station is on the Western Railway line (formerly the Bombay, Baroda & Central India Railways) in the direction of Virar Railway Station.[2]

History[edit]
The Greek merchant Cosmas Indicopleustes is known to have visited the areas around Bassein in the sixth century, and the Chinese traveller Xuanzang later on June or July 640 CE. According to Historian Joseph Gerson Da Cunha, during this time, Bassein and its surrounding areas appeared to have been ruled by the Chalukya dynasty of Karnataka.[3] Until the 11th century, several Arabian geographers had mentioned references to towns nearby Bassein, like Thana and Sopara, but no references had been made to Bassein.[4] Bassein was later ruled by the Silhara dynasty of Konkan, and eventually passed to the Yadavas of Devagiri, before being conquered by the Muslim rulers of Gujarat.[5]

The Portuguese first reached the west coast of India when the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut in 1498.[5] For several years after their arrival in India, they had been consolidating their power in north Konkan.[6] They had established a strong foothold in Goa, which they captured from the Sultan of Bijapur in 1510.[7] According to Historian Faria y Souza, the coast of Bassein was first visited by the Portuguese in 1509, when Francisco de Almeida on his way to Diu captured a Mohammedan ship in the harbour of Bombay, with 24 Moors belonging to Gujarat.[8] At the time, the cession of Mumbai (or Bombay) was of minor importance - but retroactively it gained a crucial importance when the place passed from the Portuguese to the English in 1661 as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza, and became a major trade center - making this the treaty's most important long-range result.

Portuguese mariners exploring the north Konkan Coast, discovered the Arab Sultanate of Khambat or Cambay, building or renovating or expanding the fort in the early 1400s and attacked it in a failed effort to seize it. Later, after more systematic efforts, the Sultanate of Cambay ceded the fort to Portugal by the Treaty of Saint Matthew signed on the Portuguese brig Sao Matteus anchored in the Bhayander Creek or Vasai Harbor.

The Treaty of Bassein was signed by Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat and the Kingdom of Portugal on 23 December 1534 while on board the galleon São Mateus. Based on the terms of the agreement, the Portuguese Empire gained control of the city of Bassein, as well as its territories, islands, and seas. The Mumbai Islands under Portuguese control include Colaba, Old Woman's Island, Mumbai, Mazagaon, Worli, Matunga, and Mahim. Salsette, Daman and Diu, Thane, Kalyan, and Chaul were other territories controlled and settled by the Portuguese.

At the time, the cession of Mumbai (or Bombay) was of minor importance - but retroactively it gained a crucial importance when the place passed from the Portuguese to the English in 1661 as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza, and became a major trade center - making this the treaty's most important long-range result.

See also[edit]
List of treaties
Military history of Bassein
External links[edit]
Mumbai Customs
Mumbai - The Cosmopolitan City
Vasai History
Under Portugal, the fort was the Northern Court or "Corte da Norte," second only to the City of Goa, functioning as the headquarters of the Captain of the North. For 150 odd years, the presence of the Portuguese made the surrounding area a vibrant and opulent city.[6] As such it was the capital of Portuguese possessions on the coast north of Goa, over places such as Chaul-Revdanda, Karanja Island, the Bombay Archipelago, Bandra Island, Juhu Island, Salsette Island including the City of Thane, Dharavi Island, the Vasai archipelago itself, Daman, Diu, and other Portuguese holdings extending up the coasts to Pakistan, Oman, the UAE, Iran, and other parts of the Persian Gulf.

The ethnic community locally known in the Bombay region as the "East Indians" (sic) were called "Norteiro" (Northernmen) after the Court of the North functioning out of the fort.


Statue of the Maratha general Chimaji Appa at the Fort.

One of the few standing structures
Vasai fort building2.jpg
In the 18th century, the fort was taken over by the Maratha army under Peshwa Baji Rao's brother Chimaji Appa, and fell in 1739 after a three-year-long campaign. (See-Battle of Vasai) The British shortly attacked and took over the territory from the Marathas as the price for supporting one faction of the Marathas against another.

Present[edit]
The ramparts overlook what is alternatively called the Vasai Creek and the Bhayander Creek and are almost complete, though overgrown by vegetation. Several watch-towers still stand, with safe staircases leading up. The Portuguese buildings inside the fort are in ruins, although there are enough standing walls to give a good idea of the floor plans of these structures. Some have well-preserved façades. In particular, many of the arches have weathered the years remarkably well. They are usually decorated with carved stones, some weathered beyond recognition, others still displaying sharp chisel marks.

Three chapels inside the fort are still recognisable. They have façades typical of 17th-century Portuguese churches. The southernmost of these has a well preserved barrel-vaulted ceiling.

The fort is often used for shooting Bollywood film scenes. The films shot here include Josh, Khamoshi, and Ram Gopal Verma's Aag.

Besides all the structures one should not miss observing the nature that has taken over much of the fort. It is a great place to observe butterflies, birds, plants and reptiles.

The Archaeological Survey of India has started restoration work of the fort, although the quality of the work has been severely criticized by "conservation activists". It is said that the fort has a bad reputation for illegal activities and that during the week days it is not advisable for tourists or women to visit it.[citation needed]


Bassein fort main entrance with embellishments
Accessibility[edit]
One needs to take a Western Railways train bound to Virar from Churchgate and get off at Vasai Road. If someone is coming from the Central Railway or Central Railway Harbour Line then they have to switch to the Western Railway line at either Dadar, Bandra or Andheri. Another railway line connects the Central and the Western Railways lines from Vasai Road Railway Station to Diva, a stop just beyond Thane city on the Central Railway line, and long-distance passenger trains travelling this route also carry commuters between the two lines. A new railway station named Kopar has started which is between Diva and Dombivli. Passengers travelling from Thane or Kalyan can alight at Kopar and go top by staircase and at Platform No.3 they can catch the Diva to Vasai train. Vasai Road station is only one hour by train from Kopar station. Currently there are 5 trains daily which goes to Vasai Road from Dombivli, Diva and Panvel and 5 trains from Vasai Road to Diva and Panvel. There is a State Road Transport Bus Terminus & Station adjacent and to the immediate west of the Vasai Road Railway Station in Manickpur-Navghar. The destination for buses going to the Vasai fort is "Killa Bunder" or "Fort Jetty/Quay." There are buses every half hour. Ticket costs you Rs. 7.00 and you can get off at the last stop and walk around. Auto-Rickshaws are also available which can be hired from the western entrance to the Railway station but cost more per head and are unsafe in that they are usually congested. Auto Rickshaws are also available which can be hired from the main road outside the station but it would cost you around Rs.120.00

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassein_Fort

Man Lonely Man Is Eternally Scared Of His Dreams





fighting his demons
both real imaginary
he is like a fish out
of water it seems
gasping for breath
hopelessly lost
so much yet so little
waits to be saved
from his ego
his faulted
delusions
redeemed
man a hook line
sinker bait ,,
a metaphoric
moment extreme
a colossal enigma
a wise man saint
a buffoon good
evil asymmetrically
aligned to a theme
in genetic gyration
revolving evolving
bursting at the seams

dedicated to my ello friend david seibold

A Cycle Afloat On The Waves Of Sand





a hasty journey
karmic fate had
planned seeking
for hope in some
distant land knowing
that this escapist
thought she in all
her desires will
understand once
his destiny held
in her hands
a finger hurting
for a wedding
band ,,an injured
angel broken wings
broken wand...dreams
dust to dust ashes to
ashes ..part of a
doomed cosmic plan
the pride the passion
the rise the fall of
an ordinary man

Is God A Racist




with a blindfold
on his majestic
eyes his hand
touches the rich
while the poor
man cries
the poor man
living on earthly
hell will continue
living in hell
after he dies
72 nubile virgins
for jehadists
terrorist as
paradise
more money
more wealth
more ostentation
for the bad guys
the poor man
with a beggar bowl
has no eyes lame
cripple leprous
despised ..as a
beggar poet
god could be a
fascist  nurturing
the ISIS ..as shias
kurds coptics yezdis
decapitated heads
clinically sliced
as the eunuch
UNO world powers
watch helplessly
humanity heist
on the soul of
spirituality a
bleeding pen
writes ,..a world
half in light
half in darkness
black and white


Dadasaheb Phalke In Bandra





Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, (Marathi : धुंडीराज गोविंद फाळके) popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke (Marathi : दादासाहेब फाळके) (About this sound pronunciation (help·info)) (30 April 1870 – 16 February 1944) was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as the father of Indian cinema.[1][2][3] Starting with his debut film, Raja Harishchandra in 1913, now known as India's first full-length feature, he made 95 movies and 26 short films in his career spanning 19 years, till 1937, including his most noted works: Mohini Bhasmasur (1913), Satyavan Savitri (1914), Lanka Dahan (1917), Shri Krishna Janma (1918) and Kaliya Mardan (1919).[4]

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award, for lifetime contribution to cinema, was instituted in his honour by the Government of India in 1969. The award is one of the most prestigious awards in Indian cinema and is the highest official recognition for film personalities in the country.[5] A postage stamp, bearing his face, was released by India Post to honour him in 1971. A variant, honorary Award from The Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Mumbai was Introduced in the year 2001, for lifetime achievement in Indian cinema.[6]

Early life and education[edit]
Dhundiraj Govind Phalke was born in a deshastha Brahmin Marathi family on 30 April 1870 at Tryambakeshwar, 30 km from Nashik, Maharashtra, India,[4] where his father was an accomplished scholar.[7]

He joined Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai in 1885. After passing from J.J. School in 1890, Phalke went to the Kala Bhavan in Baroda, where he studied sculpture, engineering, drawing, painting and photography.[8]

Early career[edit]
He began his career as a small town photographer in Godhra but had to leave business after the death of his first wife and child in an outbreak of the bubonic plague. He soon met the German magician Carl Hertz, one of the 40 magicians employed by the Lumiere Brothers. Soon after, he had the opportunity to work with the Archeological Survey of India as a draftsman. However, restless with his job and its constraints, he turned to the business of printing. He specialised in lithography and oleograph, and worked for painter Raja Ravi Varma. Phalke later started his own printing press, made his first trip abroad to Germany, to learn about the latest technology, machinery and for art also.


Following a dispute with his partners about the running of the press, he gave up printing and turned his attention to moving pictures, after watching a silent film, The Life of Christ and envisioning Indian gods on the screen. Phalke made his first film, Raja Harishchandra, in 1912; it was first shown publicly on 3 May 1913 at Mumbai's Coronation Cinema,[9] effectively marking the beginning of the Indian film industry. Around one year before, Ramchandra Gopal (known as Dadasaheb Torne) had recorded on stage a film drama called Pundalik and shown recording at the same theatre. However, the credit for making the first indigenous Indian feature film is attributed to Dadasaheb Phalke[10] as it is said that "Pundalik" had British cinematographers.

Once again, Phalke proved successful in his new art and proceeded to make several silent films, shorts, documentary feature, educational, comic, tapping all the potential of this new medium. Film, having proved its financial viability, soon attracted businessmen who favoured money over aesthetics.

Hindustan films[edit]
Phalke formed a film company, Hindustan Films in partnership with five businessmen from Mumbai, in the hope that by having the financial aspect of his profession handled by experts in the field, he would be free to pursue the creative aspect. He set up a model studio and trained technicians, actors but, very soon, he ran into insurmountable problems with his partners. In 1920, Phalke resigned from Hindustan Films, made his first announcement of retirement from cinema, and he wrote Rangbhoomi, an acclaimed play. Lacking his extremely imaginative genius, Hindustan Films ran into deep financial loss, and he was finally persuaded to return. However, Phalke felt constrained by the business and, after directing a few films for the company, he withdrew it.

Sound film[edit]
The times changed and Phalke fell victim to the emerging technology of sound film. Unable to cope with the talkies, the man who had fathered the Indian film industry became obsolete. His last silent movie Setubandhan was released in 1932 and later released with dubbing. During 1936–38, he produced his last film Gangavataran (1937), before retiring to Nashik, where he died on 16 February 1944.
Selected filmography[edit]
Raja Harishchandra (1913)
Lanka Dahan (1917)
Shri Krishna Janma (1918)
Kaliya Mardan (1919)
Setu Bandhan (1932)
Gangavataran (1937)
"Mohini Bhasmasur" (1913)
"Savitri Satyavan" (1914)
In popular culture[edit]
In 2009, the Marathi film Harishchandrachi Factory, which was directed by theatre veteran Paresh Mokashi and depicts Dadasaheb Phalke's struggle in making Raja Harishchandra in 1913, was selected as India's official entry to the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.[11][12][13]

Family[edit]
He has three great grand sons, two among them are settled in Mumbai.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dadasaheb_Phalke

God The Artist Worked On Some Faces




sculpting
molding
a few specie
as such
using his
artistic touch
flaws he
carefully
retouched
man his model
in sheer humility
got down on his
kneels said
lord god
thank you
very much
miraculously
made him walk
again without
his crutch..

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