Khar, Mumbai

Khar is an affluent suburb of Mumbai, north of Bandra and south of Santacruz, Mumbai. Originally one of the 'villages' that made up the larger Bandra, the present suburb is divided into Khar West and Khar East areas. It is serviced by Khar Road railway station of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. It is an area within convenient distances of several schools, restaurants, parks, promenades and shopping centres.

Northern end of the Carter Road Promenade at Khar West
Khar
Neighbourhood
Khar
Khar
Khar
Coordinates: 19°04′N 72°50′E
CountryIndia
StateMaharashtra
DistrictMumbai Suburban
CityMumbai
Government
 • TypeMunicipal Corporation
 • BodyBrihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (MCGM)
Languages
 • OfficialMarathi
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
400052
Area code(s)022
Civic agencyBMC
Location of Khar-Santa Cruz in Mumbai.

Khar, which means 'salty' in the local language Marathi has acquired this name in reference to the sea water near the Khar Danda shore. Here, one also finds the historic fishing village of "Khar Danda", which is one of the villages that made up the original Bandra area & also one of the oldest settlements of Mumbai.[1]

History and Present
Khar Road station

Most of the historic Khar area of Bandra was marshlands of salty sea water.

Khar (East) barely makes its presence felt existing as a small spread of land between the railway station and the Western Express Highway, sandwiched between Bandra and Santacruz.

Khar (West) on the other hand has been one of Mumbai's finest neighbourhoods to reside in, and is widely considered and clubbed together as one overall Bandra-Khar suburb.[2] This is evident from several destinations and establishments in Khar (West) being attributed to Bandra West; eg. McDonald's and KFC outlets at Linking Road, the northern parts of both Carter Road and Pali Hill are all technically in Khar West, bearing the Khar postal code 400052 instead of Bandra's 400050, but are yet regarded and also referred to in their addresses as being a part of Bandra. The joint Bandra-Khar residential zone is an affluent and peaceful area which is evergreen throughout the year. Peaceful, tree-shaded lanes are a charming characteristic of this area.

Pathare Prabhus were one of the earliest inhabitants of Khar, from almost a century and half ago. In the early 1900s, the Pathare Prabhu community lived in South Mumbai and used their quaint bungalows in Khar as weekend dwellings. Khar Danda was one of the original villages of the erstwhile larger Bandra. Back then, the local Bandra railway station was felt distant to alight from trains and hire 'tangas' (horse carriages) to get to these bungalows in the Khar part of Bandra. Keeping these factors in mind, as well as the growing number of homes in this part, a second railway station named 'Khar Road' was introduced in north Bandra on 1 July 1924. This development is the primary reason for Khar to start being spoken of as a suburb by itself.[3] The Pathare Prabhu community still has land ownership over a large area of Bandra/Khar.

Khar is home to many Bollywood celebrities. Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Parineeti Chopra, Karan Johar, Ramesh Sippy, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Karisma Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Tiger Shroff, Shilpa Shirodkar, Anuradha Paudwal and Srijit Mukherji live in Khar (West). It was once inhabited by stars like Dilip Kumar and his wife Saira Banu, Sunil Dutt and Nargis with son Sanjay Dutt, Manoj Kumar, Sadhana and music director/singer Hemant Mukherjee and Shailendra. Khar is also home to union minister of railways, Suresh Prabhu, Sharukh Khan's office Gauri Khan production house is at Khar and Mahesh Bhatt's office is also located here.[4]

It is an area with some of Mumbai's best shopping and fine dining addresses.

Khar also has some renowned sports facilities. Khar Gymkhana is one of Mumbai's most exclusive sports clubs. The Wellington Catholic Gymkhana is also located in Khar near the Khar Subway. There are a number of turfs that have come up in Khar for cricket and football.

Schools and colleges

Following are the educational institutions located at Khar:

  • Podar International School (IB & CAIE)
  • Khar Municipal School
  • ST Elias High School
  • B.P.M. High School
  • Sacred Heart Boys School
  • Khar Education Society's College of Commerce & Economics.
  • M.M. Pupils
  • Kamla High School and Jr. College
  • Bloomingdales Pre-primary / Jasudben M. L. School (ICSE)
  • R.V. Technical high School
  • Guru Nanak High School
  • Beacon High
  • Anuyog Vidyalaya
  • Cardinal Gracious High School

Religious places
  • Shankar Mandir
  • Maruai Devi Mandir
  • Shree Siddhivinayak Devastan
  • Digamber Jain Temple
  • Ahimsa Bhawan Jain Sthanak on 14A Road
  • Jain Temple at 5th Road
  • St. Vincent De Paul Church, Khar
  • Ghanteshwar Mandir Khar west
  • Gayatri Mandir 12th Road Khar west
  • Ram Mandir 12th Road Khar west
  • Rama Krishna Mission 12th Road Khar west
  • Guru Gangeshwar Dham 6th Road Khar west
  • Khatwari Darbar Linking Road Khar west
  • Shri Guru Singh Sabha Gurudwara Station Road Khar west
  • Khar Markaz Masjid Old Khar Khar west
  • Shri Aniruddha Gurukshetram, Old Khar

Medical facilities
  • Mahavir Hospital on Ahimsa Marg (14A Road)
  • Hinduja hospital
  • Ram krishna mission hospital
  • Beams Hospital 18A Road Khar west

See also

References
  1. "Khar Danda | KharWest.com - Khar West Local News". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  2. "July 15, 2020". curlytales.com.
  3. "Mumbai's Khar Station Turns 90". ndtv.com. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  4. "Tiger Shroff snapped at Mahesh Bhatt's office in Khar". The Times of India.
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