Parmananddas Jivandas Hindu Gymkhana, Primarily, historically known as Hindu Gymkhana is a

gymkhana Gymkhana () ( ur, جِمخانہ, sd, جمخانه, hi, जिमख़ाना, as, জিমখানা, bn, জিমখানা) is a British Raj term which originally referred to a place of assembly. The meaning then altered to den ...

(social and sporting club) located along

Marine Drive Marine Drive may refer to: Roads Bangladesh * Cox Bazar-Tekhnaf Marine Drive, world's longest marine drive road. Canada *Marine Drive (Nova Scotia), a scenic route in Nova Scotia *Marine Drive (Greater Vancouver), a number of roadways in Metropo ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

. It was originally started as Hindu Cricket Club in 1878. The gymkhana itself was inaugurated by then Governor of Bombay,

Lord Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3 February 1851 – 24 March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay. He was also an English amateur cricketer, mainly active ...

on 5 May 1894. At that time it was located on

Marine Lines Marine Lines is a locality in South Mumbai. The name ''Marine Lines'' is derived from the Marine Battalion Lines, a military establishment built by the British in the 19th century. The battalion was later converted to an air force residential ...

, which was the only access as Marine Drive was yet to be reclaimed. Until 1942, membership of the gymkhana was restricted to people of

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

religion. In 1942, when the government occupied the adjacent premises of the Islam Gymkhana and Parsi Gymkhana in Bombay during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the gymkhana threw its membership open to

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

s and Muslims as well as an "emergency measure". Hindu Gymkhana was responsible for fielding the ''Hindu XI'' in the

Bombay Quadrangular The Bombay Quadrangular was an influential cricket tournament held in Bombay, British India between 1892–93 and 1945–46. At other times it was known variously as the Presidency Match, Bombay Triangular, and the Bombay Pentangular. Presidency ...

and its successor Bombay Pentangular cricket tournaments. The gymkhana is one of the founder members of the Bombay Cricket Association. Hindu Gymkhana organises several tournaments such as ''Purshottam Shield Cricket Tournament'', which is the oldest tournament started in 1912 that it organises. The Gymkhana has been identified as a Heritage Grade IIA structure. As the gymkhana land belongs to the collector, one of its lease conditions is that the grounds should be accessible by the general public and non-sporting activities such as weddings are allowed to be held at the ground for up to 30 days in the year. In 2010, the local residents association moved court to ban non-sporting activities at the ground, since the general public was being denied access to it, something which the gymkhana denied. In 2011, the collector restricted non-sport events to 25 days a year only on weekdays.

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-sco ...

gave his first television interview to

Tom Alter Thomas Beach Alter (22 June 1950 – 29 September 2017) was an Indian actor. He was best known for his works in Hindi cinema, and Indian theatre. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. Early life Born in Mussoorie ...

at the Hindu Gymkhana grounds. Indian Batsman

Eknath Solkar Eknath Dhondu 'Ekky' Solkar (18 March 1948 – 26 June 2005) was an Indian all-round cricketer who played 27 Tests and seven One Day Internationals for his country. He was born in Bombay, and died of heart attack in the same city at the age o ...

was the son of a groundsman at Hindu Gymkana.

References

Inch by Inch
Sports clubs in Mumbai 1878 establishments in India Sports clubs established in 1878 {{Hinduism-stub

See also

References