There are many historic monuments in the island city of Mumbai. Some of them were built by Indians while others were built by foreign rulers in India. Bandra Fort is one such fort located in Bandra in Mumbai. The official name of this historic fort is Castella De Aguada which literary means a Fort of the Water Point. Actually there used to be a fresh water spring near the fort. It was used for the potable water by Fort people as well as the Portuguese ships passing through the shore. That is why this fort got its name Castella De Aguada. In the early sixteenth century Portuguese strengthened their base in the western area and in the process they built many forts on the western coast line to keep an eye on the enemies coming from the sea front. The Bandra fort was also built by Portuguese in the year 1640 at Land’s End in Bandra to be used as a watch tower. The forts strategic location helped the Portuguese to keep watch on the Mahim Bay at the South, southern islands of Mahim and the Arabian Sea from the West. The fort is built on different levels from the sea. The popular bollywood movies Dil Chahta Hai and Buddha Mil Gaya have featured this fort.If you want to go into details of the history of the fort then you should know that this fort is connected to three rulers Portuguese, Marathas and British. Initially this fort was under the ruling of Portuguese after they defeated Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. Portuguese were defeated by Marathas and seeing the threat from Marathas British destroyed some part of the fort in order to disinterest Marathas ruling the fort area. But Marathas captured the area of island in early eighteenth century in the year 1739 and ruled here for more than three decades. Then British again occupied the area after defeating Marathas in the year 1774 after the first Anglo Maratha War. Later on in the year 1830, British gave away a major portion of the island to Parsi philanthropist Byramjee Jeejeebhoy who built his residence near the fort and that point is known as Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Point.The ownership of the fort was as under:Portuguese->British->Marathas->British->Government of IndiaThe fort may be in ruins and you can see the restoration work at the fort in the form of cemented walls. The location of the fort is quite magnificent. You may feel like you are not in Mumbai but in Goa. When you reach at the top you can see the spectacular Bandra Worli Sea Link on the left side. It seems so close that you want to touch it. The views from the fort are unimaginably panoramic. The cool breeze from the sea, the surroundings, rhythmic waves of Arabian Sea make the environment pleasant even in Mumbai. The coconut trees give the place a touch of nature. The fort got its facelift by the conservation drive initiated in the year 2003 which included conserving the natural rock formations, creation of pathways, repairing the original walls of the fort, building amphitheatre, etc. The amphitheatre at the fort premise is really inviting. The makeover of the fort is done by architect P. K. Das. The fort is a popular destination among the locals as well as tourists. Currently Archaeological Survey of India owns the fort.RUCHI MAHAJANзайм на карту без отказов круглосуточновзять кредит онлайн