The CSMVS or the former Prince of Wales Museum. Mumbai’s main museum.
It was my 3rd
day in Mumbai And I was just starting to get used to the heat and the new time
zone. However, a family emergency came up for Lubna and she was going to have
to let me fend for myself. She offered me use of the family’s vacation home in
Goa and I decided to take her up on that but for this last day in Mumbai she
decided to take me to the most amazing museum.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, abbreviated CSMVS and formerly the Prince of Wales Museum
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (translation: ‘King Shivaji museum’), abbreviated CSMVS and formerly named the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, is the main museum in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Located a short distance from The Gateway to India, the museum is a wonderful introduction to the long history of Indian civilization. Containing over 50,000 examples of ancient Indian history as well as objects from other lands, these items are categorized into primarily 3 sections: art, archaeology and Natural History. Construction on the museum began in 1905 to commemorate a state visit by HRH George, Prince of Wales who would later become George V. The museum was renamed in 1998 after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of Maratha Empire.
Inside the Museum
Yet, for a neophyte to understand India is almost impossible. First,
the civilization is one of the oldest dating back 5100 years to around 3000 BC.
During that time, they’ve been trading with the Middle East, the eastern coast
of Africa, China and the islands of the South Pacific. They’ve been invaded
from the Middle East and from Europe several times over. Layer upon layer of
history, religions, civilizations, different kingdoms and cultures all stacked
on top of each other and presented to you in one fell swoop, here is India. The
sheer amount of information can be overwhelming. I read a few books about India
before I came to help me understand a little. One of those books is called Land
of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India’s Geography by Sanjeev
Sanyal, published by Penguin Books; yet it wasn’t until I entered the museum
that I was able to visually understand what the books had told me.
Situated on 3 floors are room upon room of ancient treasures featuring the
different cultures and different civilizations that make up India’s rich
history. Also exploring the different religions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam
and how they all clashed and influenced each other through the ages.
As I noted earlier in this series the weather in Mumbai was extremely humid
during my visit. The AC at the museum had a hard time keeping up with the heat,
yet there are several locations throughout the museum where you can stop and
get a refreshment including a lovely tea room where they serve an English high
tea. After 4 hours of wandering through the width and breadth of India’s deep
history I was exhausted, so we left to go get lunch in a cooler environment.
Yet, I highly recommend the museum as a wonderful introduction to helping understand
something of India’s amazing cultures and civilization through the ages.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu
Sangrahalaya Museum, 159-161, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai,
Maharashtra 400023, India.
Right across the street from the Gateway to India stands India’s most famous hotel and one of the grandest in all the world, The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower. It is a heritage, five-star, luxury hotel which is historically known as the Taj Mahal Hotel or simply “the Taj”.
View from Mumbai Bay by Yamini vijay lawhate
As you enter the Hotel, you’ll notice a high
level of security. This is because the hotel was one of the main targets of the
2008 Mumbai attacks. There are high security bomb walls, and private security and
metal detectors, but the way that they are disguised or woven into the fabric
of the hotel you almost don’t notice them.
Lobby
Once you enter the hotel though you are
overwhelmed by the level of luxury and sophistication of the lobby areas, adjoining
hallways and restaurants and gift shops. This five-star hotel serves as a
playground for the international rich and the rising young affluent Indian upper
class. While outside the bustling streets are loud with the sounds of traffic
and the crowds at the adjoining Gateway, inside you don’t hear a sound. The air
is fragranced with a scent that seems to be a combination of Mandarin oil and
the open sea. Everywhere is opulence. Huge crystal chandeliers, giant vases of
bright colorful flowers and a sense of luxury which is combination of the
British Raj and modern opulence. The people that populate this space seem to be
as almost from another planet. Money seems to be no issue for them and there’s
a sense that they live on an elevated plane far above most normal humans.
Giant Vase of Flowers
Yet for such a world-famous, five-star hotel and its sense of wealth and opulence, the price of a small room there is actually not that far out of reach. With a current exchange rate of 71.5 Indian rupees to one US dollar, the price for their simplest room comes in at around 302 US.
Staircase
Opened in 1903, the hotel has a deep and amazing history. Established and built by Jamsetji Tata, the founder of the Tata Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates, the hotel has played host to a wealth of royalty, political figures, and world-famous entertainers. King George V of Great Britain stayed there during his visit to India, the first British Monarch to ever visit India in 1911. American US presidents such as Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have stayed there. And rumor has it that in the hotel’s Ravi Shankar Suite is where the famous Indian musician taught George Harrison of the English group The Beatles how to play the sitar in 1966.
Original view 1903
When it first opened, the
hotel was the first in India to have: electricity, American fans, German
elevators, Turkish baths and English butlers. Later it also had the city’s
first licensed bar and India’s first all-day restaurant. Initially in 1903, it
charged Rs 13 for rooms with fans and attached bathrooms, and Rs 20 with full
board. During World War I, the hotel was converted into a military hospital with
600 beds.
On November 26th, 2008, the hotel became
famous for another much darker reason. The hotel was attacked by a terror group,
Lashkar-e-Taiba, which also targeted
many sites in the Mumbai area resulting in the capture and death of many
hostages. The final death toll of the attacks was 167 people. The casualties
were mostly Indian citizens, although westerners carrying foreign passports
were specifically targeted. During the three-day siege of the Taj Mahal hotel
itself, the results were the destruction of the hotel’s roof and many of the
public areas of the hotel. The siege was over when Indian commandos finally killed
the terrorists barricaded in the hotel. At least 31 people died at the Taj. The
attack on the hotel served as the subject of the 2018 movie, Hotel Mumbai
starring Rav Patal and Arnie Hammer.
photo of ornate roof inside staircase
So if you find yourself at the Gateway of India, please cross the street and enter the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower. Wander around and treat yourself to a sense of luxury that you will not find in many places in the world. Even if you can’t afford to stay at the hotel, treat yourself to High Tea in the Sea Lounge. It will be a memorable experience.
lobby waterwall sculpture
Some facts come from Wikipedia and the Taj Mahal Palace website.
My second day in India my friend, Lubna had to go to work. I decided to stay close to home and walked the less than 1 kilometer to the Gateway of India. The gateway is located on the island of Colaba in an area called Apollo Bunder. Located at the tip of Apollo Bunder, the gateway overlooks Mumbai harbor which is bordered by the Arabian Sea. It is surrounded by a series of 5 jetties and is directly across the street from the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel. The gateway is synonymous with the city of Mumbai. Built in 1911 to welcome the King and Queen of England, this stone archway in Colaba is now a historic landmark. Since its construction, the gateway has remained one of the most visited sites in all Mumbai.
Gateway to India
The gateway was built to commemorate the arrival of George V, Emperor of India and Mary of Teck, Empress consort, in India on 2 December 1911. It was the first visit of a British monarch to India. However, they only got to see a cardboard model of the monument, as construction did not begin until 1915. Before the gateway’s construction, Apollo Bunder used to serve a native fishing ground. Its foundations were completed in 1920 while construction was finished in 1924. The gateway was opened to the public on 4 December 1924 by then viceroy, Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading. Following Indian independence, the last British troops to leave India, the First Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, passed through the gateway with a 21-gun salute, as part of a ceremony on 28 February 1948, signaling the end of the British Raj.
Gateway to India
The monument is built of yellow basalt and reinforced concrete. The stones were sourced locally while the perforated screens were brought in. There are 4 turrets on the structure of the gateway, and there are steps behind the archway that lead down to the Arabian Sea. The Scottish architect, George Wittet combined elements of the Roman triumphal arch and Islamic architecture. The harbor front was realigned in order to make an Esplanade, which would sweep down to the center of town. On each side of the arch , there are 2 large halls with a capacity to hold 600 people. Due to a lack of funds, the approach road was never built therefore the gateway stands at an angle to the road leading up to it.
Gateway to India
The gateway was the location of a terror attack on 25 August 2003, when there was a bomb blast in front of it. The force of the explosion, from a bomb in a taxi parked near the Taj Mahal hotel, reportedly threw bystanders into the sea. Following the terrorist attacks of November 2008, which targeted the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel opposite the gateway, among other locations, the area has become more restricted. While still crowds of thousands gathered there each day at the gateway but police presence and security monitoring is much stronger than it was before 2008 .
Gateway to India and Esplanade
Another thing that you can do from the Gateway of India is to go to the world famous Elephanta Caves. Starting at 9:00 AM, each morning colorful double-decker boats leave one of two jettys that are connected to the Esplanade and they will take you on a journey into the past.
Boats to Elephanta Caves
The journey by sea takes 1 hour to reach Elephanta Island. The island is located in Mumbai Harbor about 10 kilometers from the gateway. The caves are a collection of temples predominantly dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. The caves and the statues are cut from solid rock, and the carvings narrate Hindu mythology with large monolithic statues. The Caves are from a time when faith, mysticism and art reign supreme, when the challenge of carving out gigantic statues and caves were accepted as a blessing. Both of these serve as awesome and beautiful examples of Hindu faith, and a testimony to the hard labor and belief of Indian ancestors.
Boats to Elephanta Caves
There are 2 types of launch: Economy and Deluxe. One is large, the other is slightly smaller in size. Travelling by either carries its own fun experience. A ticket for the Deluxe boat is Rs.150 for Adult, Rs. 90 for Child (3 to 7 years) which includes a return journey. If you want to see the view from the upper deck, you have to pay Rs.10/-extra to the launch (boat) operator. Economy boat charges are Rs. 20 less being Rs.130 for Adults.
The first boat of the day is at 9AM; they may wait a little bit for more passengers, but they will pretty much leave the dock on time. A boat leaves for Elephanta Island every 10 minutes. Week days are less crowded than weekends.
Elephanta Caves
The island and the caves are a UNESCO World Heritage site. Some of the work dates back to the 2nd century BC but most of the work seems to have been done between the 5th and the 7th century AD. There is a historical park on the island which you have to pay a fee to get into. There is a tourist tax of Rs 10 for adults and Rs 5 for children. At the entrance of the park, one needs to pay an entrance fee, Rs 40 for Indian citizens and Rs 600 for foreign nationals. Your ticket will be checked by a security guard on entry to the site.
Artwork in Caves
There are five caves you can visit. You can also walk up higher on the Island, on Cannon Hill. There are 2 old cannons there and a view, but nothing else to see.
Elephanta Caves
Take lots of pictures and show them to your friends later. Beware of the monkeys that roam around. They are quite used to the huge masses of people, but they do not like it when kids and even pesky teenagers tease them by throwing stones or making weird noises and gestures. There have been many cases of people being scratched or attacked by monkeys in retaliation. If left alone, they will usually leave you alone. Try to keep with a crowd, especially if you have some packed food with you and want to have a picnic in the area.
It is advisable to take lots of drinkable water with you from Mumbai itself.
Boats to Elephanta Caves
The first boat leaving Elephanta Island for Mumbai is at 12:00 noon and the last one is at 5:30PM. If you are fast, you can take the first boat from Mumbai to Elephanta Island, visit all caves, go up to Cannon Hill to see the old cannon, come back to the dockside, and take the first boat back to Mumbai.
Next: Mumbai and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel
*Some information taken from Wikipedia and local tourist guidebooks of Colaba.
I had been invited to Mumbai by my very good friend, Lubna to spend some time with her and her family. She was going to show me around Mumbai (Bombay) for a few days, then we’re going to journey up to Goa. From there, I would go to New Delhi on my own to see the capital and Agra which was just a couple of hours away.
Signs in Engish and Hindi
I landed at Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport about 5 :30 AM in the morning. All airports are basically the same. Some nicer and some not so, but it is all about waiting for your friends to arrive or pick you up, watch your plane to takeoff or land. Lubna finally arrived about 6:15 AM and we grab a taxi to take us across the city to her enclave, Colaba.
Street parking in Colaba
Watching the sun raise on this mega-city of 19 million was amazing. The contrasts between rich and poor, old and new, and feelings of passage of great time, but the sense of now were exhilarating to me! May be it was the lack of sleep or just being overwhelmed by the fact I was in India. A 3000 year old culture, and I was going to try and understand it in 3 weeks.
Street life
As Lubna and I rode across the city toward Colaba at 6;30 AM, the legendary Indian traffic was not in full view, but as we arrived in Colaba, the city was waking up and the streets began to fill with people and traffic. Cars, scooters, trucks, vans, motorbikes and tuk-tuks everywhere. On a road with 4 lanes for traffic, Indians would have created 6 or 7 traffic lanes. I had never seen traffic like this. It made Rome traffic look tame. And it would be even worse when I got to New Delhi.
More parking nightmares
Colaba is a wealthy enclave of Mumbai filled with high-end shops, clubs, bars, galleries and it very popular with tourists. The Gateway to India, the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Prince of Wales Museum are located here. Colaba is also the art center of Mumbai, with all the major galleries and museums located in and around this area. As you walk around the area, the buildings are old with some dating back 200 years. But inside the many apartment structures that look run-down by modern standards are state of the art, very modern apartments and residences. This is like the Beverly Hills of Mumbai but older and cooler. The area is very high density with crowded streets and endless traffic, yet it maintains an old English charm mixed with a very modern feel as well.
Somehow everyone gets to where they need too.
Of course, this area had been settled by Indians for 100’s of years before the first Europeans arrived. They were the Portuguese who were very far ahead of the rest of Europe in acquiring colonies in Asia. The Portuguese had acquired these lands from the Sultanate of Cambay in 1534. They would hang on to the area until 1661 when it became a wedding gift to the English when Charles II married a Portuguese princess. Then it would leased to the British East India Company in 1672, and then become part of the British Empire when the East India Company failed in 1857. That is when the British Raj era started lasting until 1947. The name the Brits gave this area was Wellington Pier.
The Royal Bombay Yacht Club
As you walk around Colaba, the English influence is everywhere, in the buildings, in the architecture, and how the streets are laid out. And there is no place in Colaba that is more British in feel then the Royal Bombay Yacht Club. This was where I was going to stay during my visit in Mumbai due to a large family event happening at Lubna’s home.
Official Crest of RBYC
The Royal Bombay Yacht Club is one of the premier gentlemen clubs which was founded in Colaba in 1846. When people still traveled by sea, the Royal Bombay Yacht Club would have been one of the first buildings visitors spotted when arriving in Mumbai harbor. Today, the waterfront venue remains popular because of its old-world charm. This colonial relic of the British Raj oozes history with its high ceilings and geometric tiled floors, along with a strict dress code and facilities that include sailing, a library and a billiards room. The private club has a prime location beside the popular Taj Mahal Palace hotel. The lounge, where wooden fans whirr overhead and staff in mock naval uniforms amble in and out, is rarely busy. Thanks to a ban on mobile phones, the dining room is the perfect place to eat dinner. It offers uncomplicated Indian and Chinese fare, or traditional British dishes. A full meal with drinks will set you back just Rs750 ($12) per person. Members from other sister clubs around the world can visit on a reciprocal basis, including the East India Club in London and yacht clubs everywhere from Monaco to Hong Kong.
The club has an exclusive membership and offers chambers for residence overlooking the Gateway Of India, a bar, a lounge, a restaurant, ballrooms, a club shop, a library and members sleeping room, in addition to sailing facilities in the Arabian Sea.
Hallway outside my room
My room was like stepping back in time. I felt like an Indian butler was going to walk through the door with a pot of Earl Grey or Darjeeling tea on a silver tray at any second. With huge high ceilings and whirling fans and a tile floor, the room was cool and inviting. Of course, before the invention of air conditioning, this room would have been a sweat box during the summer months in India.
My bathroom was gigantic, easily the size of my kitchen in my home in Los Angeles. The rest of the room included a large sleeping area, a walk-in closet that you could truly walk into, and a separate seating area. The room must have been 500 plus square feet. Filled with old but very comfortable furniture, large windows including a balcony that looked out over Colaba but of course it was too hot to use the balcony as I had arrived during August right in the middle of monsoon season.
There was an ocean breeze coming into the streets of Colaba but it was still one of the most humid places I had ever been in my life. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was in one of the most interesting cities in the world, I don’t think I would have ever left the cool darkness of my hotel room. And at $80 US a day it was really a bargain. The service and the staff were excellent. I truly felt like I had stepped back into the early 1920’s and 30s.
My room! I never wanted to leave.
After I checked in at the Royal Yacht Club and put my luggage in my room, Lubna and I went for a quick jaunt around the streets of Colaba. I had a real Indian breakfast and was fascinated by the street traffic and crowds and the sense of age yet vibrant energy of Mumbai. However the jet lag and the extremely high humidity got to me so by lunch time we had retreated to the club room at the Royal Bombay Yacht Club where we had a delightful lunch and a couple of cocktails. After all that I was knackered so I took a long nap and got ready to spend my first full evening experiencing the Nightlife of Mumbai.
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