Khar (Marathi pronunciation:
">ʰaːɾ is an affluent
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
of
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
, north of
Bandra
Bandra ( æːɳɖɾa is a coastal suburb located in Mumbai, the largest city of the Konkan division in Maharashtra, India. The area is located to the immediate north of the River Mithi, which separates Bandra from the Mumbai City district. It ...
and south of
Santacruz, Mumbai. Originally one of the 'villages' that made up the larger Bandra, the present suburb is divided into Khar West and Khar East areas. It is serviced by
Khar Road railway station of the
Mumbai Suburban Railway network. It is an area within convenient distances of several schools, restaurants, parks, promenades and shopping centres. Khar bears the Mumbai Postal Index Number (Pin Code) 400052.
Khar, which is derived from the word ''Khāra'' (meaning 'salty' in the local language
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
**Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...
) has acquired this name in reference to the salt pans that were used to farm salt by locals near the
Khar Danda sea shore a couple of centuries ago. Here, one also finds the historic fishing village of "
Khar Danda", which is one of the villages that made up the original Bandra area and is also one of the oldest settlements of Mumbai.
History

Most of the historic Khar area of
Bandra
Bandra ( æːɳɖɾa is a coastal suburb located in Mumbai, the largest city of the Konkan division in Maharashtra, India. The area is located to the immediate north of the River Mithi, which separates Bandra from the Mumbai City district. It ...
was a marshland of salty sea water. Alongside fishing, salt production was one of the vocations that sustained the earliest dwellers of Khar Danda.
Pathare Prabhus were one of the earliest inhabitants of Khar, from almost a century and half ago. In the early 1900s, the Pathare Prabhu community lived in South Mumbai and used their quaint bungalows in Khar as weekend dwellings.
Khar Danda was one of the original villages of the erstwhile larger Bandra. Back then, the local Bandra railway station was felt distant to alight from trains and hire 'tangas' (horse carriages) to get to these bungalows in the Khar part of Bandra. Keeping these factors in mind, as well as the growing number of homes in this part, a second railway station named 'Khar Road' was introduced in north Bandra on 1 July 1924. This development is the primary reason for Khar to start being spoken of as a suburb by itself.
The Pathare Prabhu community still has land ownership over a large area of Bandra/Khar.
Schools and colleges
* Guru Nanak Mission High School
Religious places
*
Ghanteshwar Temple Mumbai, Khar west
Medical facilities
*
Hinduja Healthcare Surgical
Notable residents
*
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...
, Indian playback singer
*
Anu Malik
Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is the recipient of a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film ...
, Indian music director
*
Gulzar
Gulzar (born Sampooran Singh Kalra; 18 August 1934) is an Indian Urdu poetry, Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this era. He starte ...
, Indian lyricist
*
S.D.Burman, Indian musician
*
Suman Kalyanpur, Indian playback singer
*
R.D.Burman, Indian music director
*
Tiger Shroff, Indian actor
*
Diljit Dosanjh
Diljit Dosanjh (born 6 January 1984) is an Indian singer, actor and film producer who works in Punjabi and Hindi cinema. Dosanjh entered the Social 50 chart by ''Billboard'' in 2020. He has been featured in various music charts, including ...
, Indian Singer
See also
*
Pali Naka
*
Khar Danda
References
{{Mumbai metropolitan area
Suburbs of Mumbai