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Ghodbunder Fort restoration nears completion

Oct 27, 2024 07:24 AM IST

Today, the Grade III-B heritage fort is nearing the end of its over- ₹15 crore restoration project that began in 2014, the years piling on due to the many approvals required and the break forced by the Covid-19 pandemic

MUMBAI: Perched on a hill on the banks of the Ulhas creek in Mira Road is the 16th-century Ghodbunder Fort, built as an outpost for 200 soldiers to keep a watch on any incoming attacks from Marathas on the more central Vasai Fort and Durgadi Fort in Kalyan. Less than a decade ago, the fort was covered in vegetation and had yet to be given a proper heritage rating.

Thane, India - October 15, 2024: The Ghodbander fort built by the Portuguese in 1730 has been Newly Reconstructed in 2024 ,in Thane,in Mumbai, India, on, Tuesday, October 15, 2024. ( Praful ÊGangurde /HT Photo )
Thane, India - October 15, 2024: The Ghodbander fort built by the Portuguese in 1730 has been Newly Reconstructed in 2024 ,in Thane,in Mumbai, India, on, Tuesday, October 15, 2024. ( Praful ÊGangurde /HT Photo )

Today, the Grade III-B heritage fort is nearing the end of its over- 15 crore restoration project that began in 2014, the years piling on due to the many approvals required and the break forced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“When we first received the project, the fort was in a dilapidated condition,” said Sapna Lakhe, architect of the conservation architect firm, Sankraman Design Studio, along with her partner Shwetambari Shinde. “Some walls had trees grown through them and some had tilted dangerously. The fort had undergone some repair work before the 1990s and had cement plastered over some walls when heritage norms were not strictly enforced.”

First on Sankraman’s agenda was fortifying the walls. “We began with peeling the cement plaster and weeds that had grown over the red laterite stones below,” said Shinde. “We lowered them by numbering the stones and reused the stones and put them back together with lime mortar and plaster, the originally used natural material to bind the stones. Most of the walls, however, just required lime plaster grouting.”

Lakhe said that the elements of Portuguese design were visible in many places—the angled symmetrical arches in the doorways—as also the red laterite stone found in the Konkan region. “But we also see Maratha influences after they took over the fort, with some differences visible in the gradient of the stones added later mixed with chira,” she said. “The bastion, essentially a watchtower where the whole of Mira Road is visible from a height, is circular as opposed to the Portuguese-favoured angular structure.”

Some of the additions the Sankraman Design Studio chose to make were steps and ramps to the entrance of the fort.

The dishevelled open area was tamed with landscaping, with the Portuguese elements of symmetry kept in mind and seating places at the ends and around the old trees left undisturbed. Flooring of basalt stone was also added.

In June this year, the architects came across a surprise: a room below the surface, filled earlier with rubble and hidden entirely from view, was found at the rear end of the fort.

“We got an archaeologist to study the room,” said Shinde. “He suspected it could be one of several things. One was that it was what is called ‘chakwa’ in Marathi: a deceptive entry to trap enemies. Another theory is that it was a chor darwaza or rear exit to allow soldiers to escape from the back. A third, more anticlimactic, theory is that it was a storeroom.”

This secret room is now visible to visitors, as will be the terracotta material found in it.

“There were some rectangular rooms in the fort which were probably used as a granary and to trade horses,” said Lakhe. “We plan to convert these rooms; some to display the heritage canons found across Mira Bhayandar, one perhaps as a library for kids, and more.”

The village around the fort is a mix of communities and professions. Agri-Kolis and Christians were early settlers, followed by migrant workers thanks to the low rent. Sankraman has also collaborated with architecture students to bring out a book on how the fort was used by the surrounding population over the years. The book will be out in November.

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