Worli

Worli (Marathi: वरळी) is a locality in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. Historic spellings include Warli, Worlee, Varli.

Geography

Worli is a part of South Mumbai which extends from Haji Ali to Prabhadevi. It is bounded by the Arabian Sea to the west and the neighborhoods of Haji Ali to the south, Mahalaxmi to the east and Prabhadevi to the north. The nearest railway station to the neighbourhood is Mahalaxmi, while Elphinstone and Lower Parel are also the nearest railway station from Worli. With the commissioning of the Sea-link, Worli Sea-Face is now better connected with Western Suburbs.

The palais royale building constructed in Worli is one of the tallest buildings of India. As of October 2014, construction for this building was stalled due to legal issues.

Commercial development

Worli has been one of the busiest office areas in Mumbai since the late 70's. The first major development was the Shivsagar Estate located on Dr Annie Besant Road. The major companies having properties here are GSK Pharma, TATA, Deloitte, Novartis, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, Siemens, CEAT and many more. Aditya Birla Group has its head office in Worli.

Worli (Vidhan Sabha constituency)

Worli Vidhan Sabha constituency (Marathi: वरळी विधानसभा मतदारसंघ) is one of the 288 Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) constituencies of Maharashtra state in Western India.

It is one of the five constituencies of the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha located in the Mumbai City district.

It is a part of the Mumbai South (Lok Sabha constituency) along with five other assembly constituencies, viz Shivadi, Byculla, Malabar Hill, Mumbadevi and Colaba.

History

Worli started off as a small fishing village, originally called Kamathpura, back in the late 1700's. It was converted into a more bustling town by the famous artiste Dishankeshwar "Warli" Kalsi from whom Worli also got its name. Dishankeshwar Kalsi has also been recognized in several periodicals of the time as India's first homosexual stage performer. Kalsi's lavanis were popular across the western coast of India and he was known to perform questionable acts on stage with his pet goat. He was eventually shot dead by a British soldier, allegedly his lover, when he caught Dishankeshwar in a compromising position with a rooster. Towards the mid-1800's, Worli started being called Warlipur given Dishankeshwar Warli Kalsi's strong association with the village. It eventually was renamed Worli in the 1930 census conducted by the mayoral municipality of greater Bombay.