FPJ Impact: Historic Cannons To Stand Guard At Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation Headquarters

Mira Bhayandar: Immediately after The Free Press Journal highlighted the inordinate delays towards restoring and retaining the historic identities of priceless treasures from the past, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) wrote a letter to the director of the Mumbai-based Directorate of Archaeology and Museum seeking a nod to excavate and place the rare cut cow and calf stupa (Savatsa Dhenu) and two age-old cannons in the premises of their headquarters in Bhayandar.

A delegation of volunteers representing the Janjire Dharavi Killa Jatan Samithi had also met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking his intervention on the issue of immediate restoration. An order by the CM, worked as a catalyst, prompting city engineer Deepak Khambit to communicate with the directorate which had earlier allowed the MBMC (vide an official letter dated 7, June, 2023) to safely remove the masterpieces under the supervision of the archaeology department officials and install them at a suitable location in the premises of the Janjire Dharavi Fort in Uttan.

The historic masterpieces were found in the Anand Nagar area of Uttan and behind the Karanja Devi temple in the nearby Manori area during an inspection conducted by a team led by the assistant director (archaeology) from Ratnagiri division in May, 2023. Nearly three months after receiving the letter, the MBMC responded on 31, August 2023 expressing their inability in moving arisen and restoring the artefacts for three reasons- the cannons were found in a private property that was out of their jurisdiction, devotees had started worshipping the Savatsa Dhenu thinking that it was a “lingam” (symbol of Lord Shiva) and relocating it could lead to religious disharmony and thirdly the restoration was possible only after receiving CRZ clearances and funds from the state government. 

“Under the supervision of the officials from the archeology department the artefacts will be safely extracted and placed at a suitable spot in the civic headquarters amidst police security.” said city engineer Deepak Khambit. The current development will now ensure a pride of place for the cannons and the stupa which can provide a lot of information about history and wars that have been fought in the last few centuries. 

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