The Bhaji Prabhu Udyan and the Sant Dyaneshwar Udyan were two adjacent, run down, and ill–maintained Municipal Gardens abutting the Dadar-Prabhadevi sea-front. The access road, from the main SV Road to the Dadar-Chowpatty, separated these two gardens. When we were asked to redesign these two gardens my first instinct was to combine the two and emphasize this long, spectacular waterfront on Mumbai’s west coast that looks into the Mahim Bay.

We therefore eliminated the road in between and terraced the gardens in green lawns and malad stone tiers. We conceived these gardens as green galleries into which the local residents and others could withdraw. They could spend the evenings here watching the many moods of the sea and the many colours of the sky at sunset. The recently completed, modern, Bandra-Worli sea link bridge that runs across the Bay adds another dimension to the spectacular view from these terraced gardens. As the central tower of this cable-stayed bridge falls in the same axis as the gardens, the cables form an interesting, symmetrical, triangular semi- transparent pattern at some distance in front.

We also created an exclusive children’s play area with rubberized flooring which has become extremely popular with small children and their mothers. We have added an amphitheatre around an existing ‘chatri’ to encourage the staging of cultural programmes.

As the gardens are dedicated to and named after Baji Prabhu and Sant Dyaneshwar, plaques explaining their important contribution to history have been put up at the entrance so that people, especially the younger generation, can be reminded of the local historic characters.

Client: Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai
Consultant: S G C Design Group
Period of Construction: 2008-2009