MOUNT POINSUR CHURCH, FACT FILE:
IC COLONY, BORIVALI Name of the Structure: St. Francis Dassisi Church
HISTORICAL METHOD : (2-3 lines)
The church has a significant historical events happening since
1630s and therefore this method of study was used as part of
analysis.
ANALYSIS OF THE STRUCTURE :
The chapel located on the summit of the Poinsur hill, has two
open air grounds on campus used for school assemblies, wed-
ding ceremonies, cultural programs and movie shoots, as well
as a 5-acre playground adjoining the adjacent Our Lady of
Immaculate Conception Church, Mt. Poinsur.
ANALYTICAL DRWAINGS :
SUMMARY: (700-1000 WORDS)
The church was built between 1630 and the end of 17th century. The church is
perched atop a 45 metre high knoll in Mandapeshwar, Borivali is Mumbai’s least
known and most delightful slice of eclectic heritage—Mount Poinsur, an ode
to the St. Francis of Assisi order in India and Marian devotion, the veneration
of Mary in Roman Catholicism. The chapel is now a part of St Francis D’Assisi
School complex in Borivali. The chapel was originally made of stone but in 1908
renovations were made to the structure using RCC. The circular chapel with
a classical dome topped by an effigy of Christ is a Marian Sacromonte (Sacred
Mount dedicated to Mary). There are various Marian Sacromontes in Europe and
Latin America, but the Sacromonte in Borivali is particularly unusual. Nothing
similar exists elsewhere in the world. Its uniqueness lies in the seven small circu-
lar vaults dug into the knoll, reminiscent of the caves on Mumbai’s Salsette Island.
These caves were once used by Hindu ascetics and later occupied and reused by
the Franciscan monks. Built between the 1630s and the end of the 17th Century,
Mount Poinsur’s history goes back to 1544 and Fr Antonio do Porto, the founder
of the Congregation of the Missionary Brothers of St. Francis of Assisi in India.
He and his companions, the Portuguese pioneer evangelisers of Bombay, Salsette,
and Bassein Islands built the Church of Our Lady of the Conception, a Franciscan
monastery, and a college for the indigenous people in Borivali. Fr Antonio Porto
lies buried in Mount Poinsur.
1 HISTORY ASSIGNMENT
Other names the structure is known by: IC Colony Church
Year it was built : 1908
Built between the 1630s and the end of the 17th Century,
Mount Poinsur’s history goes back to 1544 and Fr Antonio do
Porto, the founder of the Congregation of the Missionary Broth-
ers of St. Francis of Assisi in India. He and his companions,
the Portuguese pioneer evangelisers of Bombay, Salsette, and
Bassein Islands built the Church of Our Lady of the Conception,
a Franciscan monastery, and a college for the indigenous peo-
ple in Borivali. Fr Antonio do Porto lies buried in Mount Poinsur.
The history of St. Francis D’Assisi Chapel inside the St. Francis
School and Orphanage dates back to 1908. Sebastian Pereira,
Archbishop of Daman, who had his see at Colaba, Bombay and
knew the Franciscan Missionary Brothers, visited Paulus-Mori-
tz, Superior General of the CMSF to start an apostolic activity
for the welfare of poor children of the Diocese of Bombay. He
selected the location at Mt. Poinsur. Mortiz took up residence in
the balcony of the run-down church of the Immaculate Concep-
tion on 4 October 1908.
In 1739, Mount Poinsur was captured by the Marathas. The Friars dispersed; the
church, monastery and college were plundered and burnt. A century and a half
after the Maratha invasion, the site’s Franciscan heritage attracted Bros Paulus
Moritz and Nicholas Hohn to bring the Order back to India and make Mount
Poinsur the centre for all its national congregation activities. They put up a school,
orphanage and rectory south of the Church in 1908, in so doing both hiding and
protecting the hermitage and chapel in the decades that followed. The chapel is the
part of the school complex which is managed by the Franciscan Missionary Broth-
ers, a Catholic religious society founded by Paulus Moritz, a German missionary.
The school is recognized by the State Government of Maharashtra. It was estab-
lished in 1908 and it is one of the largest high schools in Maharashtra, India. It has
two open air grounds on campus used for school assemblies, wedding ceremonies,
cultural programs and movie shoots, as well as a 5-acre playground adjoining the
adjacent Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church, Mt. Poinsur.As well as the
high school and junior college, there is also a boarding school on campus. The
school also runs an orphanage/residential institution for homeless children. The
institute also runs an engineering college under the University of Mumbai and a
management wing affiliated to Yashwantrao Chavan Open University.St. Francis
Junior College was established in 1975. The college offers classes in Science and
Business and these are taught in the English language In 1985 when the school
had completed 75 years Giani Zail Singh, the then President of India, attended the
celebrations. Saint Francis D’Assisi had its centenary celebrations in 2008 attended
by former President of India, A.P.J.
21104 ANNA ROSE
2 21184 ASMI VARTAK