The Gateway of India is probably the most visited tourist place in the city. Since it was so popular I thought it need not be written about but nevertheless its here for its history and grandeur. This archaic picture of Gateway of India with full pomp and prestige is on the occasion of dedication ceremony in 1924, when its construction was completed. Photo courtesy: Wikipedia … Continue reading The Gateway of India, Mumbai
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount is popularly known as Mount Mary Church. It is located atop a small hillock overlooking the magnificent Arabian Sea. This is the church of Mother Mary or Virgin Mary or Ave Maria as commonly known. There are a lot of local legends or stories about this place of worship. People of all faith are known to come … Continue reading Mount Mary Church, Bandra, Mumbai
Castella de Aguada is popularly known as the Bandra Fort. Castella stands for castle or fort and Aguada means source of water in Portuguese. Closer to the fort, a fresh water spring was known to be there where the ships used to stop by for intermediate break. But the Portuguese themselves are known to have named this place as Forte de Bandora, which is Bandra … Continue reading Bandra Fort – Castella de Aguada, Bandra, Mumbai
A long array of saffron robed monks walked down beside me. With their patram in their hands they hummed in unison some sholkas. With their bare feet they climbed the basaltic floor into the caves, slept on the stone shelves carved within them. The chilled breeze that gave me goose bumps just wafted around them. With no belongings of their own they seemed so immiscible … Continue reading Kanheri Caves, Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai
The Elephanta Caves is the most popular tourist destination of this city. Located on the island hills of Gharapuri, it is about 11 km north-east of Apollo Bandur and 7 km from the shore of the mainland. The Portuguese called this as Elephanta Island upon finding the huge monolithic Elephant sculpture, after this island came under their power in 1534. They tried to take this … Continue reading Elephanta Caves, Maharashtra
Mani Bhavan is a simple two-storied building on the Laburnum Road in a quiet residential locality called Gamdevi in South Mumbai. Gandhi lived here whenever he visited Mumbai and this is the place that served as his head-quarters for about seventeen years from 1917 to 1934. This house belonged to Revashankar Jagjeevan Jhaveri, who was Gandhi’s friend and host in Mumbai during that time. Before … Continue reading Mani Bhavan, Laburnum Road, Mumbai
Global Vipassan Pagoda is a replica of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda in Yangon Rangoon, Myanmar. According to the tour guide at the Pagoda, it was built to re-establish the teachings of Buddha in India which seemed to retreat from this country. Hence, a magnificent structure like this attracts the attention not just within the country but in the entire world. This is the world’s largest … Continue reading Global Vipassana Pagoda, Gorai, Maharashtra
