Bandra (Marathi: वांद्रे)., Dubbed the "Queen of the suburbs" is a rich region in the city of Mumbai(formerly Bombay). This suburb has a station on the Western Railway suburban Mumbai. Bandra is very popular for restaurants, bars and downtown shops with several restaurants and shopping areas clustered around the hill road, Linking Road and Carter Road areas.
With a large cosmopolitan population in Mumbai, the predominantly Catholic Bandra is famous for its churches, including the Basilica of Mount Mary. Also Parsi fire-temple, Tata Agiary on the Hill Road are well known. The district is also famous for its coast, walking along the Carter Road, Bandstand and Bandra reclaimation. Many Bollywood actors live in the bandstand & Pali Hill areas of Bandra.
Bandra is possibly adapted from Bandar, Persian word for Port. There are other points of view about the origin of the name, one said it was derived from the Portuguese princess, and the other probably a corruption of Bandar-Gah in Persian (Bandar is a common word port in Iran). VANDRE Marathi and Bandar is Persian both mean port and come from the same Sanskrit root.
The Portuguese built several churches in Bandra, including the famous St. Andrew's, which has the distinctive portugese style façade. Portuguese Bandra has the distinction of having the most Roman Catholic churches in the world: six churches with their own separate parishes (all in an area of four km2) and the famous Basilica of Our Lady of Mount connected to the parish of St. Andrew's, Bandra. The churches are: Mount Caramel, St. Peter's Church, St. Andrew's, St. Theresa's Church, St. Anne and St. Francis of Assisi Church.
Chapel of Mount Mary was built around 1640 local tradition has it that it was destroyed in 1738 during a Maratha raid. The statue of the Virgin was found in the sea by fishermen and temporarily installed in St. Andrews before moving to reconstruction in the Mount Mary chapel in 1761, the statue is venerated because of its claim to many miracles, large and small. In the honor of the basilica there is a fair held for eight days (Sunday after September 8), where pilgrims come from as far north as Vasai, Virar and Thane in the east to, honor at the Mount Mary Basilica.
Bandra was a village with plantations of rice and vegetables in the lowlands of the island till it was connected to Mahim by a causeway in 1845. Although many bungalows were built in the boom years of the 1860's and 70's the fashionable Pali Hill area which is now inhabited by members of the film community, came up with its first buildings in the 1880s. RD National College was founded in 1922 in Hyderabad in Pakistan, led by Annie Besant. After the partition of India, it was reconstituted in 1949 in Bandra.
West side, called "Bandra (West)" has become one of the most fashionable suburbs in the mid 20th century. But the East soon followed its immensely popular sibling during the mid to late 90s and is now seen as a predominantly commercial area, consisting of the Bandra-Kurla Commercial Complex. Bandra West is also famous for Pali Hill and Carter Road areas which are home to many film stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Rekha, Dilip Kumar, Sanjay Dutt and many more. It also has some of the cities best restaurants, bars, shops and places to hang out. Otters Club, one of the leading clubs of the city, is located on Carter Road near Jogger's Park.
