Around 60-70 years ago, this area had a garden or Bagicha in hindi. The bagicha portion of land was surrounded by marshy lands and a creek. There was a wide crevice at the Bagicha cross-road in olden days and the road had a bawdi (a drinking water well) which is linked to colourful anecdotes of the old days. The truth is that goats, cattle and people got stuck in the mire and died hence even today that crevice has continued to be addressed as a ‘khadda’. This area was first called Furniturewala chawl and was later changed to Bagicha around 30 years ago. The area was owned by Mohammad Abubakar and it had two sections- one is a leather bazaar and second the Bagicha. Today Bagicha is also called Abubakar chawl. Houses in this area are made of wood and tin.
Hindus of Dhor, Chambhar castes live here and practice their trade. Migrants from Karnataka are the second largest community after Maharashtrians and a sizeable Muslim population. Bagicha had a paper factory but it no longer stands today. A gymnasium called ‘Maibhoomi Vyayamshala’ runs inside Bagicha.
Some of the festivals celebrated collectively by this community are Sai baba week festival(7 day festival of a Hindu saint), Ganeshutsav, Datta Jayanti, Navratotsav and Hanuman Jayanti.
One of the most important festivals celebrated is Datta Saptah Sohala. It is the oldest festival celebrated in Dharavi. It begins a week before Datta Jayanti. There is a bhandara (sacred vermillion) on the seventh day. From the first day till the seventh day, one cannot keep the veena aside. Kakad aarti (early morning prayer) is held at four in the morning. All seven days have different performances like keertans(hyms) , bharud (folk form of enlightening the rural masses) or bhajans (devotional songs).
