St. Andrew's Church

St. Andrew's Church is a historic Roman Catholic church located on Hill Road in Bandra West, Mumbai. Originally built by Portuguese Jesuits in 1575 and dedicated in 1616, it is one of the oldest surviving churches in Mumbai. The structure features distinctive Portuguese Baroque architecture and houses a mini-museum, 16th-century wooden altars, and a monolithic stone cross. It remains an active parish and a Grade I heritage site following a major restoration completed in 2025.

Visitors can explore a 16th-century Portuguese-style church featuring original wood-carved side altars, hanging panels depicting religious scenes, and a historic pulpit. The compound includes a large graveyard and a monolithic stone cross originally from the destroyed Church of St. Anne. A mini-museum is located in the choir loft. The church is an active place of worship with daily masses, and visitors may observe the equinox sunlight phenomenon on the sanctuary arch at 7:00 AM during specific dates.

Originally built in 1575 by Portuguese Jesuits and dedicated in 1616, St. Andrew's is one of Mumbai's oldest churches. It survived a devastating cyclone in 1618 and was the only functioning church in Bandra after the British destroyed the Church of St. Anne in 1739 to prevent Maratha occupation. It served as the sole parish for a vast area including Juhu, Santa Cruz, and Khar until 1853. The church received an Urban Heritage Award in 2002 and underwent significant restoration culminating in re-consecration in December 2025.

The church serves as a vital spiritual and cultural center for the Bandra Catholic community, particularly the local Koli fishing population for whom it was originally built. Its graveyard holds ancestral graves dating back centuries, maintaining deep genealogical ties for parishioners even after parish boundaries were redrawn in 1946. The annual feast and daily masses sustain living traditions, while its Portuguese architectural heritage represents Mumbai's colonial-era Christian history.