Dahanu

Dahanu (Pronunciation: [ɖəɦaːɳuː]) is a coastal town and a municipal council in Palghar district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is located 110 km from Mumbai city and hosts Adani Power’s thermal power station. It is the site of the approved Vadhawan Deep Water Port.

Dahanu is located 65 km north of Virar on the Western Railway line of Mumbai Suburban Railway. It can be reached from National Highway NH 8, 24 km off from Charoti Naka. It is 22 km North of Boisar on the Western Railway line. Nearby Sai temple is located in Narpad. Also famous for Mahalaxmi Temple located just 4 km from Charoti.

The name "Dahanu Gaon" originates from the word "Dhenu Gram" meaning the village of cows. A lot of cattle, particularly cows, were owned by the people in Dahanu. Today, Dahanu has become a major commercial and industrial town in the Palghar district. It is well known for rose gardens, coconut groves and the chickoo fruit, and the city makes up 35% of Maharashtra's chickoo production. Rubber balloons, rice mills and manufactured goods are major manufacturing products produced in Dahanu. There is also a 2x250MW power plant in the city that supplies electricity to Mumbai. The electricity is distributed by adani electricity. Dahanu, a peaceful seaside town with a sprawling, uncluttered beach. The Dahanu Bordi stretch is 17 km. Irani settlers were first to cultivate chickoo in Dahanu. Dahanu is lined with fruit orchards and is favored for its chickoo fruit. Lycees is also grown and exported from Gholwad. Accessible from Dahanu is Udwada—a significant place of worship for the Zoroastrians—with a large, nifty temple that houses their sacred fire. This fire has been kept alive for almost a thousand years. Earlier, Dahanu was also famous for Tadi (palm tree juice) business which was controlled by Shinwarbhai Jogibhai Kadu, his brother Bangyabhai Jogibhai Kadu and their family. They were one of the richest families in the town, along with other Iranians. Dahanu is governed by Dahanu Municipal Council which is responsible for all the civic infrastructure and administration of the town, Mr. Bharat Rajput is the current president of the Dahanu Municipal council.

Dahanu is a medieval town with a long history. It was settled probably as early as 500 AD. Some records show possible settlement as early as 150 BC. The reasons for nomadic lifestyle of locals are unknown. All these developments were before 100 AD and are in reference to the area around Dahanu, rather than the Dahanu village itself. Under the administration of the Sultanate of Gujarat, the coastal settlement grew in importance and soon attracted many other communities such as the local Konkanis as well as the surrounding tribal and Gujarati people. Later the Zoroastrians arrived too. It was frequented by Arab merchants during this time. By the 1510s, the Portuguese established their influence in the Konkan region. The village was under de jure control of Portuguese from circa 1515 to 1661. The Inquisition as well as the Portuguese Vijayanagara alliance fueled this change of power. In 1570, Portuguese built a chapel as the region had several converts to Christianity. They also built a fortress to defend the surrounding area. The Chapel still stands today and goes by the name of Nossa Senhora Das Angustias. During the Portuguese era the village went by the name of Dolours. In the 1700s, Dahanu was invaded and captured by the Marathas and remained under their control until the fall of Maratha Empire. According to the Treaty of Mandsaur (1818), the Holkar state (which included the village of Dahanu) became subsidiary to the British. An unnamed officer was assassinated in the town by villagers over some dispute in the 1870s. Its details are unknown. The town became a part of Independent India after its Struggle for Independence. After the Sanyukta Maharashtra Movement the Dahanu Taluka along with Talasari Taluka and Mumbai city became a part of Maharashtra state on 1 May 1960.

1. Pujya Acharya Bhise Vidyalaya Kasa
2. Balakanji Bari High School Bapugaon
3. Surya nagar High school Waghadi
4. K. L. Ponda High School, Parnaka, Dahanu
5. H & H J Vakil Model High School. 6. S P H Highschool, Bordi
7. A. J. Mahatre high School, Narpad
8. H. M. P. High School, Masoli. 9. Vakil Model High School, Masloi
10. K. K. Mistry High School, Savta
11. Seva Vidya Mandir Adivasi High School & Jr. College Arts Gangangaon Dahanu
12. Gokhale Education Society's N. B. Mehta Mehta (V) Science College.

Dahanu is well known for its famous chikoos, capsicum and coconuts and tadi drink, a juice of palm tree. It is also known for its loving nature environment which has now become a huge tourist places near Mumbai.

The BSES (Bombay Suburban Electricity Supply) Power Plant was renamed as Reliance Energy Power Plant in the year 2005. In year 2018, Reliance sold its power generation and transmission business to Adani Electricity. Dahanu is a coastal region, the staple food of the people living there is rice and fish. Dahanu Road railway station is the last main station within boundary of Maharashtra state en route Mumbai Vadodara Western Railway line. Many express trains halt at this station. Weather here is very pleasant in the winters. Dahanu is also famous for the tribal people especially Warli tribe and other tribes. Dahanu and surrounding area is designated by the government of India as an ecologically fragile zone, to protect the greenery from industrial pollution. Dahanu Road also has many balloon factories in the Masoli area. Industrial development received a setback from new ecological regulations hence tourism, animal husbandry, fishing, small scale units and farming are the only industries where expansion can take place.

Tarapur Industrial Estate and Tarapur Atomic Power Station are located close by. The huge industrial area at Tarapur accommodates various specialty chemical, bulk drugs, steel and alloy and textile manufacturing companies.

Dahanu is located at It has an average elevation of 9.89 metres. To the west of the town is the coast of the Arabian Sea while the east is lined with the Sahyadri ranges. This combination has made Dahanu a tourist destination. Sprawling Chickoo wadis (farms), rose gardens, salt pans are among the other things that dot the landscape. The Dahanu beach is an extensive 15 km stretch lined by coconut and Saru (casuarina equisetifolia) trees. This is mostly crowded on the weekend when people from the metropolitan city of Mumbai come to visit as it is a short commute. The other days life is very laid back and the beach does not see much tourist crowd except inhabitants of Dahanu. There are horse and weekend fairs on the beach.

Dahanu is a good residential location. Very good schools and colleges are located here. Among them Shirin Dinyar Irani Learners Academy is well Known for Sport and innovative activities. St Mary's High school is the popular school with about 4000 students studying from nursery to class X .

State transport buses (Maharashtra State Transport Corporation) and Auto rickshaws are the general mode of transport in and around the town. The National Highway NH8 runs through the taluka near Charoti, around 25 km east of the Dahanu town. Dahanu has its own railway station, Dahanu Road. It lies on the Western line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. It is the northern limit (terminal station) of the Suburban local train network, although the track continues north to Gholvad and beyond. Regular local trains & Memu are available for Churchgate, Dadar, Borivali & Virar, & also Panvel. There are also direct express trains from Dahanu which connects it with cities like Mumbai, Surat, Pune, Ahmedabad, Goa, Trivandrum, Bhuj, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jamnagar, Delhi, Amritsar, Firozpur, Porbunder. State run Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India's busiest container gateway near Mumbai, is planning to build a satellite port at Vadhavan in Palghar district, Dahanu in Maharashtra for at least Rs.10,000 crore.

as of 2011 India census, Dahanu has a population of 50,287. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Dahanu has an average literacy rate of 71%: male literacy is 77% and, female literacy is 64%. In Dahanu, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age. Among minority languages, Gujarati is spoken by 34.43% of the population and Hindi by 19.80%.

Adivasis(Warlis, Dubla,Dhodi), Mangela(Koli), Bhandari, Machhi and Bari community people dominate the population of the town with significant amount of Parsis and Iranis;Jains,Muslims and Gujaratis. This makes Dahanu a rich town by itself compared to neighbouring taluka of Palghar. In spite of a tradition of resistance, the indigenous Warlis have today become poor marginal farmers or migrant labourers barely surviving from year to year. While their narratives and consciousness come from a history of police brutality, exploitation by landlords, moneylenders and liquor contractors and from their continuous struggle for land rights and access to the forests, they are today forced into practicing settled subsistence agriculture. Moreover, categorized as backward and primitive, their culture, heritage and ecological understanding has come under attack. They now live on the margins of industrial and urban areas on the fringes of their slowly eroding forest lands.

There are mostly Warli/Varli, Malhar Koli, Mangela, Machhi, Bari,Mahyavanshi, Vdaval, Kunabi, Kokani, Kathodi and other tribes lives in Dahanu. The people in Dahanu taluka are mostly tribals, mostly inhabiting rural areas and having daily commute to urban areas for work. Tribal culture is dominant in the talk and customs. The tribal art most predominantly shows village life and the day to day functions. The original people of this land are tribals. World famous tribal art "Warli art" originated here from Warli tribe. Many foreign students have resided in the tribal settlements for learning Warli art. Similarly Tarpa dance (Adivasi Nrutya) and Dhole dance are famous all over the world.