The popular place Jambli Naka en-route Thane Railway Station has a clock tower and a vegetable market. The Masunda Lake is in its vicinity and so too many ancient places of worship that may not stand out but are actually many centuries old, amazing and worth a visit.
Cawasji Patel Agiary: Thane housed a large population of Parsis and it is but natural that the city houses an agiary, a fire temple out of bounds for non-Parsis. The agiary in existence from 1780 bears name of Cawasji Patel reputedly the first Parsi to come to Thane. The CP tank too bears his initials like the agiary bears his name. The CP agiary at Court Naka is behind foliage and boundary walls and hence not conspicuous. The Parsi community of Thane too may be inconspicuous numbering just about a thousand but their contribution to the city endures through historical structures like the municipal Wadia dispensary, the Khan Bahadur Divecha town hall, Taraporewala garden and the J J School where Bal Gangadhar Tilak is reported to have studied for a few years.
Koupineshwar Temple: The Kopineshwar temple is another place of worship and has been in existence for many centuries. Built first by the Silahara Dynasty (who ruled at Thane from 810 to 1240 AD) the temple has undergone recorded renovation starting 1760, then in 1879 and most recently in 1996. An interesting part about the location of the temple is that it was on banks of the Masunda Lake which today in 2019 is at a distance from the temple. Reason being the lake has been filled to make the road - Shivaji Parh adjacent to Jambli Naka from and to the Railway Station. Though a Shiva Mandir, the temple also has shrines dedicated to Brahma, Rama, Hanuman, Shitala Devi, Uttareshwar, Dattatreya, Garuda and Kali. The Shiva Linga of the temple at 5 feet height and 5 feet diameter is among the largest in Maharashtra. As is custom, the temple also has Nandi, Shiva'a mount. On the busy Station Road it is difficult to believe that a centuries old temple exists but Koupineshwar Temple attracts devotees for quietude, peace and worship inside in 2019 like during the past thousand years.
St John's Church: This anicent place of worship also helps us learn about the journey of Christianity at Thane. As long ago as seven centuries ago, in 1321, four Fransiacan Friars suffered Martyrdom at Thane on Mar 9. The arrival of Portuguese into Thane also led to the advent of Christianity into the district in the 16th century. Between 1549 and 1737 over nearly two centuries, Thane district saw the setting up of nearly nine churches:
Mother of God by Jesuits in 1549, Our Lady of Grace by Augustinians in 1574, St. John the Baptist around 1579, St. Anthony by Fransciscans in 1582, Our Lady of the Rosary by Dominicans in 1605, Our Lady of Hope by Franciscans in 1630, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in 1634, Our Lady of Mercy by Jesuits around 1669 and Our Lady of Remedy by Augustinians by 1737.
When Thane was captured by Marathas in 1737, all but one of the nine churches existing then were destroyed. The lone remaining church was the St. Anthony of which even today the main wooden altar, the side altar and the roof of the sanctuary still remain as in the original. This Fransiscan church when managed by the secular clergy was renamed St. John the Baptist in keeping with the former parish of Thane. The Fransiscans returned briefly between 1773 and 1776 from Diu which was ruled by the Portuguese to manage the church they built but the church again returned to the secular clergy to be managed from Mumbai and Goa. Five years ago in 2014, the St. John's Church underwent restoration under famous conservation architect Vikas Dilawari and today stands serene on banks of Masunda Lake as a place of worship for the parish and also a symbol of the ancient history of Thane.
Shaar Hashamaim - Gate Of Heaven Synagogue is the only Synagogue in the city of Thane and is testimony to the Jewish community at the city since the 16th century. Amazingly, Jews served in the Maratha army holding senior positions such as Subedhar, Major, Mukadam, Sardar Bahadur. Jews were also associated with making the Parsik Tunnel and the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, the company which ran the first train in India between Thane and Mumbai. The elegant stone building at Tembhi Naka was completed in 1879 in which year it was consecrated on day of the Jewish festival of Hannukah.
Thane has a very large Jewish population numbering nearly a thousand making it one of the largest of the community in India. The synagogue was built in Thane for the Jewish community who otherwise had to travel to south Mumbai for worship at the Gate of Mercy Synagogue in the Masjid Area. The Gate of Heaven synagogue too has undergone renovation in the past decade and continues to serve the Thane Jewish community comprising almost forty percent of the Indian Jewish community.