The name Meriwadi, a locality in Udvada, aroused my curiosity. The late Pesi Patel, owner of the now defunct but once popular King Hotel informed me that the name Meri is a corrupt form of the word Medhi, meaning an ancient type of well with steps.
Such a well still exists in the compound of the house of late Alamai Chenai, about 100 m away from the Iranshah Atash Behram premises. The well is the only surviving ruin of the palace of the Raja of Mandvi. What’s more, the wall of this well has an inscription in Portuguese which, with my limited knowledge of that language, I could translate as follows: The place was the customs house of the Portuguese in 1718 AD under the leadership of Rev Van Antonio. The inscription was in a broken state in 1995 when I first visited this historical site.
Clockwise, from top l: Mairie fort; inscription in Portuguese; a stepwell in Udvada
As to the second Mary, while waiting for the ferry on the bank of the Kolak River, barely three km away from Udvada, one cannot miss seeing the majestic structure in black stone standing in Bhimpor village in the Union Territory of Daman. Popularly called Mairie, which in French means town hall, closer inspection reveals that the structure is a fort built by the Portuguese to counter invasions from Gujarat, which lies across the Kolak River.
Dr V. M. MEHER-HOMJI