A former professor of history has recorded the surviving crosses in the city even as they continue to get gulped down by the ever-expanding urban infrastructure
The cross at the Missionaries of Charity on Chapel Road. Santacruz is named after this cross; its origin can be traced back to 1850. Pics/Poonam Bathija
It was circa 2007, when the city was well on its way to demolishing illegal shrines and crosses Âu00c2u0080— mostly for building reconstruction and road widening projectsâÂu00c2u0080Âu00c2u0088— that Agnes de Sa, then a professor of history at the Mumbai University, embarked on her study of the Christian symbol. She wanted to start “recording those that were still remaining”.
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In Kalina, at an East Indian pocket or ‘gauthan’, the residents fought with the builder to retain the cross that was within the premises of a heritage bungalow which was pulled down. Initially, the builder turned a deaf ear, but thanks to the persistence of the residents and a local community called the Jolly Boys Association, the cross was reinstated outside the new building
Going from one cross to another, be it in within church premises, or graveyards, slums and unassuming nooks and corners on streets, she painstakingly put together her recordings to do her bit to document heritage. Now, it has all culminated into a paper she presented at the 4th Archaeology of Maharashtra International Conference at the University of Mumbai on Saturday.
And while the wayside crosses fight an existential crisis, their counterparts in the far flung Vasai appear to be getting a fresh coat of paint. This one at Remedy Church is a prime example. “Unlike the Portuguese crosses in Mumbai that sport somber hues of white and sometimes blue, the ones in Vasai are painted bright red and yellow. To me, that’s a symbol of Indian culture.” Pic/Hanif Patel
Speaking of her research, de Sa says, “While some crosses come with the most fascinating stories and anecdotes from history, there are numerous that people know nothing about, not even when they date back too. And, that is of interest too.” For instance, we are told, that Santacruz gets its name from a cross that is currently within the premises of the Missionaries of Charity home on Chapel Road, Santacruz (West).
Graveyards usually offer a glimpse of a variety of crosses, be it in terms of embellishments or structure, says de Sa. Typically, they are made of white marble. The Celtic cross — the one mounted on a circle at the centre, called the Nimbus — is a common sight in graveyards. “From the view of religious and social belief, it represents the circle of life.” Some crosses are also a picture of various imagery of Christ
“The words ‘santa cruz’ mean holy cross in Portuguese. The story goes back to the 1850s when this region was inhabited by East Indians who had put up a little wooden cross on a hillock. Legend has it that the cross started sprouting leaves and that’s how it came to be identified as the holy or the blessed cross. Residents in the region requested the government to name the area after the cross. Another reason we know that Santacruz got its name from this cross is because the station came up much later in 1888, while the naming happened around 1867,” says the historian. Currently, there are three crosses lined up in a glass case. “The innermost one, which is wooden, is supposed to be the oldest one, although not the original,” she adds.
Memorial crosses are a rarity. Mumbai lays claim to just one, on the lawns of the Afghan Church in Colaba. “It’s a Celtic cross with four panels on which is inscribed a list of the soldiers of the British Raj, in a hierarchical order, who lost their lives in various battles.” Pic/Datta Kumbhar
The number of crosses has taken a sharp nosedive through the years, de Sa observes. “Many crosses are getting destroyed, or being rebuilt. Fancy structures are replacing old ones, which is good — the sign of the cross remains, but, it is not heritage. To me heritage is important. However, when I see the problems that people face in maintaining heritage, I feel that if the cross continues in different forms, that’s also okay. In another 100 years, if that remains, that will be heritage too,” she signs off.
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