Audio Guided Walking Tour on HopOn India App – From Gateway to Fountain, Mumbai

The Gateway was a monument built to commemorate travel,

commerce - and, of course, the might of the British Empire. It

was the entry point into the most happening city of India,and

was named Urbs Prima in Indis or the foremost city in India by

the colonial administration. . It was the site of cotton trading

during the cotton boom. It was the port of entry into India for

important colonial officials, merchants and traders, and British

army officers. Ironically, it was also the point of exit for the

last British troops who had held India. The style of architecture you will be looking at is called the Indo-

Saracenic or Indo-Gothic style, or simply Bombay Gothic. The

architects of this style were inspired by native Indian and

middle-eastern Islamic traditions; they combined these with the

Gothic revival and Neo-Classical movements that were

flourishing in Britain during the 19th century. Don’t be

surprised, if during your tours, you come across several

structures with the high arches and ornate carvings like in

cathedrals, only to be topped with domes and minarets like a

Turkish palace! You can linger about and marvel at the statues of Swami

Vivekananda and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.They’re both

icons of Indian history. Swami Vivekananda also sailed from

here on his historic visit at the Chicago Parliament of Religions

in 1893. He ended up introducing the western world to Hindu

spiritual practices and ideals.

The Taj Mahal Palace hotel comprises two buildings: a tall,

relatively new-looking one to the right, and an older, grander

building to the left. The entrance to The Taj is through the new

building, and I recommend that you stand across the street from

this entrance as I tell you the story of the Hotel.

If you stand in front of the Taj, you will find yourself in the

middle of an interesting panorama of Mumbai life. Behind you

stands the Gateway of India, bustling with tourists. On your

extreme left you are likely to see quaint old carriages, called

Victorias, dressed up in gaudy colours and pulled by rather sad-

looking horses. On your right, the traffic blares away. Every

once in a while you will see a fancy car pull up into the

driveway of the Taj, carrying elegantly dressed guests who

may have come to stay at this iconic hotel or just stopped by

for a bite at the many restaurants here.

Built in 1903, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel was, for several

decades, the first sighting for visitors sailing into Apollo

Bunder Harbour. The island city of Bombay has its British

colonial history to thank for most of its heritage structures. But

for Indians it is quite a satisfying thought that the Taj Mahal

Palace Hotel – one of our most iconic, beautiful and luxurious

buildings was built by an Indian. The Taj hotel is exquisitely pretty, built in the same Indo-

Saracenic style as the Gateway. It combines this style with

elements of Byzantine or Medieval Turkish architecture, so if

you look up you will see its domes sitting like fat onions on top

of its high Gothic ceilings. It even has latticework on its

balconies in the Arabic style.

Before we reach to Leopold cafe we will be visiting Lansdowne Road and Tulloch Road. At Lansdowne Road you will spot some fancy curio shops and the Bowen Memorial Methodist Church. You will come to another lane that

leads to the left, known as Tulloch road. It is down this lane

that we will go, for it contains some of Colaba's hidden

treasures.For decades, this lane has been the centre of Mumbai's

nightlife: A delectable pit stop for the city that never sleeps. No

matter how late you turn up here you will find good food, good

booze and good cheer. First, to your left stands Bade Miya –

the kababwalas who have been feeding the city's hungry

partygoers since 1946. If you happen to come to Bade Miya

during the evening hours when it operates, we recommend you

try the succulent mutton seekh kabab and the bhuna gosht. Or

if you’re a vegetarian, go for a juicy plate of paneer tikka.you will see Gokul on the right.

Gokul has been the provider of cheap drinks to students like me

and young professionals since the 1960s, to your right. At

Gokul you can try their coastal-style fish preparations like

bombil fry and surmai fry with the poison of your choice.

Just a few steps after Gokul you will also find Baghdadi -

another low-priced eatery. As famished students, my friends

and I would raid Baghdadi every Friday night after drinks at

Gokul, gorging on the mutton biryani or the chicken fry or

chicken Afghani. True to the name, the rotis you will get at

Baghdadi are in the middle-eastern style: they're huge, almost

30 inches in diameter, and one is more than enough to fulfill

your cravings.

Imagine that. You have two iconic monuments on one side and

the sumptuous bazaar of Colaba Causeway on the other, and

yet this tiny gulli holds enough of the city's treasures to have a

presence of its own.

For over 50 years, Cafe Leopold has been the confluence, the

meeting point, of all the streams of life and multicultural

experiences that we Mumbaikars are so proud of. Cafe Leopold

is the favourite haunt of foreign tourists and visiting expats,

non-resident Indians, and locals who are looking for world

class restaurant culture combined with the warmth of Indian

hospitality. Have you read 'Shantaram', the best-selling book

about life in Mumbai, by author Gregory David Roberts? In

the book, he describes Cafe Leopold as "a place for people to

see, to be seen and to see themselves in the act of being seen".

This is not so true anymore. But what cannot be denied is that

Leopold itself has been, and continues to be, the place with an

international feel to it. From hippies in the 60s and 70s, to

Arabs and Afghans in the early 80s, then backpackers through

the 80s and 90s and expats ever since then.

And of course, as a peaceful, lively and open-hearted meeting

place of different cultures, Leopold could not escape the

tragedy of the November 2008 terrorist attack. Two terrorists

hurled a grenade and fired bullets into this crowd, causing the

painful loss of many lives. Proud of its strength, Leopold has

preserved the bullet holes on its walls.

Colaba Causeway is one of Mumbai's busiest and most

colourful streets. It is a noisy carnival, a riot of stalls cramped

together so tight that they appear fused to each other. On any

average day if you come here between 11am and 5pm, the

bazaar is usually teeming with shoppers and you might struggle

to negotiate the next 100 meters or so to our next stop. As you

snake your way through the endless crowd you will find stalls

selling endless varieties of cheap fashion accessories and

souvenirs. If you ever want to find out what's trending among

the young - the college crowd and struggling 20-somethings,

you just have to take a stroll through this market. T-shirts and

scarves, belts and boots, funky pendants and fridge magnets,

it's all here. But the secret pleasure of shopping at Colaba

Causeway lies not in the products themselves - but in the thrill

of Bargaining. If you cruise slowly along the bazaar and

observe the people, you can watch how deals are struck. You

can watch as the high drama of negotiation unfolds about you,

and how youngsters fight like tigers in their prime.

If you stand outside this

dimly lit cafe, you may hear american pop classics playing on

the jukebox and the humming of conversation. Along with

Leopold, Mondegar is a giant of the old-world restaurant

culture. Started in the 30s, Mondegar was the first

establishment in Mumbai to get a jukebox. Many an avid

customer has paid the small fee and dedicated a song to his

date at dinner! If you plan to go in, you can ask the staff if the

jukebox still works.

There is usually a 5-10 minute waiting time before you land a

table, but once you do, you will want to spend 5-10 hours. The

food is great, the servers are happy to leave you to your

conversation, and the ambience is always genial and charming.

At the corner you will

arrive at the Regal Cinema house to your right. Once you reach

the entrance to the theatre, do pause to take a look at this

magnificent old institution. It is a throwback to a bygone era,

when going to the movies 'was an art'. Beautifully designed in

the Art Deco style of the time, Regal was inaugurated in

1933...when Mumbai was gathering its reputation as home to

the magical world of films. Plush decor, luxurious seats, velvet

curtains - Regal was a grand tribute to the importance of

cinema in the culture of Mumbai. People would book tickets

well in advance, dress up in their finest clothes and jewellery,

and come to the theatre in Tongas, or horse-drawn carriages.

The theatre was also known for its refreshments, in particular

the ice cream, and this reputation was well-founded. As a child

in the early 90s, I would eagerly await family outings to Regal,

drawn here less by the films and more by the promise of

getting a softie ice cream from one of the few softie dispensers

in the city. Not surprisingly, Regal evokes all kinds of nostalgia

in old Mumbaiwalas. Why don’t you take a look at what's

playing there now?

The Wellington Fountain is named

after Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. He was

called the 'Iron Duke' for his victories in important battles. The

Duke of Wellington was just a young colonel when he defeated

Tipu Sultan, the fierce king of Mysore in southern India.

Strangely, despite this and other achievements, Lord

Wellington was not much appreciated back home. Then he

fought Napoleon, and defeated him in the famous battle of

Waterloo, and, well, you know what happens to your record

when you defeat Napoleon, right? He was handsomely

rewarded with accolades and a dukedom, he rose to become

Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, and eventually he

served as the Prime Minister of England for two terms. He

visited Bombay in 1801 and 1804, but this fountain was only

built in 1865 to commemorate his visit. I guess you could call

this an interesting roundabout quite literally – it’s all ‘round

you, and fun to know about!

Now for the statue behind you. This is of one of our former

prime ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri.

This large, elegant construction used to be The Royal Alfred

Sailor's home. It was designed by F.W. Stevens, the very same

architect who designed the breathtaking Victoria Terminus,

which we will visit on one of our walks. It was completed in

1876. Today, it houses the headquarters of the Maharashtra

Police. Find a convenient place to stand and look up at the facade. At the top, you will see a delicately carved sculpture on a

triangular piece of stone. This is a carving of Neptune, Roman

God of freshwater and the Sea.

For now

you are off the Colaba Causeway and in the 'fort' area. In doing

so, you have just entered the main Bombay island for the first

time! The causeway was completed over 200 years ago to

connect the island of Colaba to the island of Bombay. Before

that, this ground that you are standing on used to be just ocean

• and people would actually drown trying to cross over!

You have also entered what is known as the art district of

Mumbai. The first art institution in this section is the National

Gallery of Modern Art, or the NGMA for short.

This is the Prince of

Wales Museum, now known as the Chhatrapati Shivaji

Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya - renamed after the great maratha

king Shivaji. The museum is one of Mumbai's greatest

treasures, and you cannot leave Mumbai without spending at

least 2 to 3hours admiring its diverse collection.

The architect who designed the Museum was George Wittet,

the very same man who also designed the Gateway of India.

Do you notice the Indo-Saracenic architectural features we

discussed earlier? The Museum covers a built-up area of over

12,000 square metres, and has over 50,000 artefacts in its

collection. The collection falls under three categories: Art,

Archaeology and Natural History - so you see, there's

something for everyone.

The college is

named after Monstuart Elphinstone, who was Governor of

Bombay province nearly 200 years ago. It was the Honourable

Elphinstone who recognised that the province of Bombay could

be more than just a naval base for the British, that it could be a

city in its own right. The college was established in 1856. It is

here that the Western System of Education took root in

Bombay. Several of its graduates went on to play important

roles in Bombay's and even India's history as they went on to

become religious reformists, political commentators,

businessmen and even freedom fighters.

Built in 1952, this gallery provided a space for the young artists

of Independent India to unleash their creative genius on the

country. It was commissioned by Sir Cowasji Jehangir, 2nd

Baronet of Bombay, who came from a highly distinguished

family in Bombay's history. The Jehangirs, originally the

Readymoneys, were a wealthy Parsi family who were part of

English colonial royalty. The first patriarch was Sir Cowasji

Jehangir Readymoney. He funded the construction of the

Elphinstone College building that you just saw, and also the

elegant Convocation Hall of the Mumbai University.

This lofty sculpture of a horse is made in bronze. What do you

think of it? While you gaze at it, let me tell you the ironic story

of the place that you are standing in. This locality, specifically,

is known as ‘Kala Ghoda’, or Black Horse. “Ah,” you might

say, “So this neighbourhood is named after the statue!” I hate

to be the one to break it to you, but in fact the sculpture of a

Black Horse was installed here because the neighbourhood was

originally known as Kala Ghoda! You see, in colonial times,

there used to be a statue of King Edward the VIIth, Prince of

Wales, riding a horse, at this very spot. That’s how the

neighbourhood originally came to be called ‘Kala Ghoda’.

If you are taking this tour after 11am, you will find the corner

outside Khyber packed with many stalls that form one of

Mumbai's informal and open food courts, selling sandwiches

and sugarcane juice among other snacks. Such stalls are vital

for the working folk who cannot afford the fancy restaurants in

this neighbourhood.

The restaurant Khyber, is named after the famous Khyber pass

which formed the historical land route between Asia and the

Indian Subcontinent. Today, the region is known as the Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Khyber is a landmark of

fine dining that serves what they call 'Northwest Frontier

Cuisine'.

The Keneseth Eliyahoo synagogue was built by the grandson of

David Sassoon. It is maintained with much dedication by the

few remaining Jews in the city. The synagogue was completed

in 1884, and it is beautifully decorated on the inside with

pillars made of Burma teak and large stained glass windows.

The atmosphere inside is old enough and quiet enough to make

you stop to examine your soul. When visiting as young 20-year

old students, we were fascinated by the sombre prayer hall, the

mystic symbols on the windows, and the aged prayer books in

Hebrew.

Before you reach to oval maidan you will be visiting Watson Hotel. The Watson was a high class hotel built by the 19th century

business man, John Watson. If he was in any way connected

with Sherlock Holmes, that's a mystery we'd love for you to

solve! According to Mumbai blogger Deepa Krishnan, the

Watson was completed in the late 1860's using a design never

seen before in India. The building was made entirely of cast

iron, using only cast iron girders for its framework. The iron

was imported from England, and it was assembled and built on

site, right here. The Watson was a posh, elite establishment

which even had English waitresses serving English patrons. It

was a Whites-only hotel when it was run by the Watson family,

and perhaps this imperialist policy gave rise to the legend that

Sir Jamsetji Tata built the Taj hotel to avenge his insult after he

was denied entry here. Among the famous guests at Watson's

was the well-known American writer, Mark Twain, who wrote

about his fascination for the crows of Bombay in his travelogue

titled 'Following the Equator'.

As you walk, the Oval Maidan and the buildings on the other

side of the Oval Maidan come into view. These are from a

totally different era, made in the Art Deco style which became

popular in the 1930s in Bombay. These buildings were built on

reclaimed land, and they stand now where the sea once rolled

in, all the way into the maidan ahead of you.

As you come around to the front of the University you can

stand outside the Gate and look in. To the right you will see a statue of Sir Cowasji Jahangir Readymoney the first outside the

entrance to the convocation hall. Behind the statue is a huge

circular stained glass window, behind a frame of smaller circles

like port hole windows.

see, the High Court is a massive structure, larger

than most of the buildings that we have featured in our walk

today. It is approximately 171 metres long and 51 metres wide.

If you stand at the entrance and look up at the two towers in the

foreground, you will see two statues standing at the very top.

The one to your left is Justice - the lady with a blindfold and

weighing scales. To your right is the statue of Mercy, with her

hands folded. So what comprises the story of the High Court? Is it the age?

The architecture?The jurisdiction? Invariably, the story of a

court cannot be complete without a gleeful dissection of its

most sensational case. Would you like to hear the story of the

most confounding, most scandalous, and most significant

criminal trial held in Independent India, within these courts? We will delve into our little bag of legal lore, and tell you

about the infamous Nanavati murder case? It was the first high -profile case in newly independent

India, and that too in the glamourous metropolis of Bombay.

The tower was funded by a business tycoon of Bombay, named

Premchand Roychand. If you have been to the Museum earlier,

you will be aware that Roychand also has an art gallery in the

museum named after him. Premchand Roychand was a

businessman who made his fortune in the cotton trade that

colonial India was known for. He came to be called India's

'Cotton King', and went on to become a big time speculator in

the early stock market of Bombay. Incidentally, Bombay is

home to the oldest stock market in all of Asia, the BSE, which

is in the close vicinity of our tour. The BSE has had a colourful

history of speculators, but the prince among them was

Roychand. This clock tower was, however, an act of devotion

on his part: he built it for his mother, Rajabai, and it is named

after her. His mother was blind and a devout woman who

wished to take her meals at the hour appointed by the religious

scriptures, and so this clock tower was built to remind her to

take her meals on time! The architect, Sir Scott, modelled the

Rajabai Tower on the famous Big Ben in London, and you can

hear it chiming merrily away in the hustle and bustle of the

city, every 15 minutes. An interesting piece of our history has been carved into the

façade of the Rajabai Clock Tower.

The first thing you must know, is that for well over a century,

this spot, which was known as Flora Fountain, or simply

Fountain, was the very heart of Bombay. The four roads that

meet here form the axis of the original city of Bombay. This is

why you find most of the oldest structures of British Bombay

along these streets.You are also standing at the point that used to be the historic

'Church Gate' from where this area gets its name. The Church

Gate stood where the fountain stands now, and it was one of

the three gates leading into the old Bombay Fort. The gates and

walls of the Fort were ordered for demolition by the then

Governor, Sir Bartle Frere, because he saw that the town within

was bursting at the seams and there was an urgent need to

allow for expansion.

In reality,

the Hutatma Chowk is a Memorial. ‘Chowk’ is a local word for

Junction or Square. So Hutatma Chowk means The Martyrs'

Square. This sculpture was built to commemorate a tragedy

that occurred during a political movement that was started in

the 1950s to define the identity of Bombay.

After 1947, when India gained Independence, an attempt was

made to carve out new, independent states in a formerly

dependent colony, and this was done largely on the basis of

language.