Thāne

About Thāne

Thane likes to call itself the City of Lakes, and with dozens of talaos scattered between apartment towers it earns the name. Sitting at the head of Thane Creek just north of Mumbai, it is one of the largest cities of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, yet it keeps its own Marathi character, theatre culture and food scene.

History runs deep here. Thane station was the end point of the first passenger train in Asia, which ran from Bori Bunder in Mumbai on 16 April 1853, and the old town around Masunda Lake still holds temples and lanes from much earlier times. Since the 1990s the city has spread up the Ghodbunder Road with new townships, malls and water parks.

The nature is the surprise. Yeoor Hills, the forested edge of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, rises right behind the western suburbs, and every winter thousands of flamingos gather on the mudflats of Thane Creek. A boat ride on Masunda Lake, a plate of spicy misal and an evening at Gadkari Rangayatan make a classic Thane day.