Prabhus would have thought this one up. Taken the staid pathrel--a pious vegetarian snack, much loved by Gujaratis--and in a sizzling interpretation, traded the goodness of gramflour for the hedonism of minced meat. They have even been guilty of slipping fish into a pot of bubbling undhiyo. Another Pathare Prabhu heresy which no Gujarati worth his saag will recognise as his beloved harvest-time treat.

They used to be called Patan-na-Prabhu, the Prabhus of Patan--a town in Gujarat known for its exquisite patola sarees. Until their king, Raja Bhimadeo, a scion of the Yadavs of Deogiri, migrated south. His entourage included several communities, among them the Prabhus.

They set up their capital at Mahim, which in the 7th century AD was a pretty brave move; considering that the Causeway and Railway were 1200 years away. The only attractions of the place were acres of swamp, redeemed by a few tiny patches of cultivation. But it was a time of peace as the Prabhus fanned out in all directions, taming large tracts of land and aboriginals into submission to yield paddy, toddy and coconuts.

With the same sureness with which they married the seemingly irreconciliable flavours of fish to vegetable curries, they established their houses in the estates. Combining full-blooded Portuguese stucco facades with a Gujarati love of carved doors, the Maratha penchant for functional austerity and the English love of china and chandeliers in the interiors.

Says advocate Rajan Jayakar, a heritage lover and ardent chronicler of the community's history, "We were the first indigenous community to achieve a 100 per cent literacy rate. As we were always a city based community, with settlements concentrated in Thakurdwar, Chirabazaar and Princess Street, education was easier. We also enjoyed a good equation with the rulers, whether Portuguese or British; as the chief vocation for the community was mediating between foreigners and Indians."

The houses they built exemplified these values: vastly educated yet clannish, solemnly pious in their observance of rites, yet hilariously innovative when it came to nicknames for entire families.

The plan of the wada was dictated by social considerations: the need to live as an extended joint family, with the consequent nuisance of women, their noisy bickerings with each other and vendors confined to the rear of the house. Bearing the brunt of spatial segregation were the servants' houses, cows and bathrooms. All these were located outside the house.

Few Prabhu houses in the city have survived the crush of development. One feisty relic of the nineteenth century is well preserved in another avataar, as the Zhavba Ram Mandir off the busy Girgaum road. The Prabhus learnt the secrets of preserving heritage pretty early on in the century -- change the function in tune with the times.

Once this temple was a house for a large clan. What is interesting is that the conversion has retained the broad accents of the erstwhile house, even while imbuing the best of Maratha temple architecture. Broad steps lead to a pillared verandah or ota, where the temple bells now toll. Cusped arches tie columns in the verandah, filled with profuse tracery. Also visible are intricate serpentine brackets, a modest replica of the famous Dilwara temple brackets, which is another homage to the Prabhu's Gujarati ancestry.The sabhamandapa of the temple, the hall where the congregation gathers was the main living space of the family (osari). An upper storey balcony projects into this, a screened enclosure for the ladies in the congregation. Earlier, communication between the two storeys of the house were maintained by a lightwell which punctured the whole length of the house.

Looking up one can see the upper storeys of the house and the bulbous kalash of the temple resting easily over them.Also remains is a well at the rear, still used by the inhabitants who live in the erstwhile servants quarters jammed into the main structure by now.

Smaller houses, still well preserved, include the Kirtikar Sadan, occupied by three different families and another house in Dadyseth Agairy lane. Most of these houses are made vulnerable by having been sublet to different families, who believe that windows like chickens should be grilled for best results.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.