Vasai-Virar
— — the Portuguese fort the tide keeps coming back to.
Not only on a wall.
“A twin city on the Konkan coast north of Mumbai, where the Vasai Creek meets the Arabian Sea. The old stone walls of Bassein Fort sit half in the water, half in the trees, with the names of Portuguese captains still cut into the gates. The local trains roll in from Churchgate every few minutes, and the suburbs reach almost to the salt pans. — from the studio
Vasai-Virar, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Vasai-Virar is a municipal corporation in Palghar district, Maharashtra, on the northern edge of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. It joins the towns of Vasai, Virar, Nalasopara, and Naigaon into one city of roughly 1.3 million people. The land sits between the Vasai Creek to the south and the Vaitarna River to the north, with the Arabian Sea forming its western edge. Western Railway suburban trains tie it to Churchgate, and the new Mumbai Coastal Road is reshaping the journey.
Bassein Fort, the Portuguese-era citadel on the south bank of Vasai Creek, was built in 1536 by Governor Nuno da Cunha and held the colonial title Baçaim. It fell to the Maratha forces of Chimaji Appa in 1739 after a long siege, then passed to the British in 1802. The surviving basalt walls run for nearly four kilometres around chapels, watchtowers, and a powder magazine, much of it claimed by banyans. It is protected today by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Vasai Road station, the main suburban stop, is about an hour from Churchgate on the Western line, and Virar marks the northern terminus of the local timetable. The ruined fort sits roughly ten kilometres west of Vasai Road, reached by share-auto through the village of Vasai Gaon. Most travellers come in the cool months between November and February, when the basalt walls and the surrounding salt pans hold the morning light without haze. The Jivdani Mata temple above Virar draws large weekend pilgrim crowds.