Forwarded by Mehernosh Fitter. Dadar, East, Mumbai. 989 2301 884. T.O.I. 24.11.05.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK Mumbai:


Almost two years after vandals destroyed rare stained-glass panels covering the canopy of the ancient Bhika Behram well at Churchgate, the grieving family of a Parsi girl, who was killed in a car accident, came forward to restore them.



In 2003, the newly-married girl was run over by a speeding car in south Mumbai. Although the police launched a manhunt, the unidentified motorist was never caught. Her family then decided to restore the stained-glass panels in her memory. The installation work was completed on Wednesday. Sources close to the family said they did not wish to be identified.


The Parsi/Irani community in Mumbai was shocked when in early 2004, vandals broke the panels above the 280-year-old well in the middle of the night. For the first time in recent history, over 2,000 Zoroastrians held a candlelight vigil at Azad Maidan in protest soon after. In this case too, the police failed to trace the culprits.
The Bhika Behram well is perhaps the oldest sweet water well in Mumbai, sunk way back in the year 1725. It is one of the few Parsi wells in the city which has one entrance for the community members and another one for non-Parsis to draw water.


The well has an interesting history relating to a Parsi named Bhikhaji Behramji, who came to Mumbai on foot from Broach (Bharuch in Gujarat) to seek his fortune some time around the year 1715. The story goes that a penniless Bhikhaji was captured by the Marathas who mistook him for a Muslim. At that time, the Marathas were at war with the Sultans of Gujarat.


He was imprisoned in a fortress called Pandegad. He was later released when he convinced his captors that he was a Parsi by showing them his religious garments of sudreh and kusti. However, according to some, it was not Bhikhaji but his grandfather Khurshedji who came from Broach to Mumbai in 1665.
They say it was the grandfather and not the grandson who was arrested by the Marathas. In the course of time Bhikhaji became a successful merchant having his business at “Angrez Bazaar’’ now known as Horniman Circle. As a token of his gratitude, he sank the well named after him in 1725. Sunlight shines through the newly-installed stained glass panels at the Bhika Behram well in Churchgate on Wednesday