From family albums to museum walls, CSMVS exhibition traces Mumbai’s Pathare Prabhu history
Exhibition at CSMVS pieces together the story of one of Mumbai’s oldest communities through heirlooms, oral histories, photographs and objects preserved inside family homes.
The exhibition, the first in the museum’s planned “Roots of a City” series, brings together heirlooms, oral histories, archival material and personal objects sourced from Pathare Prabhu families across Mumbai. (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty) Written by Kaizan Kabrajee
Photographs tucked away in family albums, inherited silverware, handwritten recipes and ritual objects have come together at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya to tell the story of one of Mumbai’s oldest communities.
Opened this week at the museum’s Mumbai Gallery, *Roots of a City: The Pathare Prabhus of Mumbai* attempts to document the history of the Pathare Prabhu community through domestic memory rather than official archives or political milestones.
The exhibition also traces how the community adapted through different political eras. (Express photo by Amit Chakravarty)
The exhibition, the first in the museum’s planned “Roots of a City” series, brings together heirlooms, oral histories, archival material and personal objects sourced from Pathare Prabhu families across Mumbai.
Rather than following a chronological narrative, the exhibition explores aspects of everyday life — including food, festivals, migration, religious practices and family traditions — through objects drawn from both the museum’s collection and community members.
“When curating the exhibit, we wanted visitors to experience how the Pathare Prabhus lived. To get a sense of their houses and temples,” said Vandana Prapanna, exhibition consultant and senior curator associated with the project.
Believed to have migrated from Mewar through Gujarat and Devgiri before settling in Mumbai around the 13th century, the Pathare Prabhus are regarded as among the city’s earliest settler communities. Despite being small in number, members of the community went on to occupy important civic and administrative roles during Portuguese and British rule.
“They are the first migrant community in Mumbai, so we started our Roots of the City exhibition with the Pathare Prabhu community,” Prapanna said.
The exhibition emerged from months of conversations with community members, with curators conducting nearly 35 interviews. Several families also loaned photographs, jewellery, furniture and ritual artefacts for display.
“We wanted them to feel like it is their exhibition,” Prapanna said.
One section focuses on women’s role in preserving traditions through cuisine, festivals and rangoli art. The exhibition also references the 1938 Pathare Prabhu Ladies’ Exhibition of Arts and Crafts, which showcased embroidery, painting and other artwork created by women from the community.
“In our community women are treated equally,” said Rajan Jayakar. “They cook but they are not cooks. They are part of the fraternity.”
The exhibition also traces how the community adapted through different political eras.
“Some became clerks, interpreters and translators during Portuguese rule,” Jayakar said.
For the curators, the process highlighted how much of Mumbai’s social history continues to survive within homes rather than institutions.
“The members of the community are born archivists,” Prapanna said. “Their houses are packed with history and they are so keen to share.”
Kaizan Kabrajee is an intern with The Indian Express Mumbai
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