Visiting Mumbai, India
Mumbai, the city in Southern India on the Arabian Sea Coast, is formally known as Bombay. The seven islands that now form Mumbai were first inhabited by the Koli fisherfolk, whose shanties still occupy parts of the city shoreline. The islands were originally ruled by a succession of Hindu dynasties. They were invaded by Muslims in the 14th century. They were ceded to Portugal by the Sultan of Gujarat in 1534. The Portuguese did little to develop them before the major island of the group was included in Catherine of Braganza’s dowry when she married England’s Charles II in 1661. The British Government took possession of all seven islands in 1665. Three years later the British leased the islands back to the East India Company for an annual rent of ten shillings.
Bombay, as it was called then, soon became a trading port due to its exceptional harbor and the number of merchants who were attracted from other parts of India by the British promise of religious freedom and land grants. Migrants included sizeable populations of Muslim Gujaratis, south Indian Hindus fleeing Portuguese persecution in Goa, and Zoroastrian Parsis fleeing Muslim persecution in Persia. The arrival of these merchants, and that of later immigrant groups, became the basis for Bombay’s celebrated multicultural society. Within 20 years, the presidency of the East India Company was transferred to Bombay from Surat. The town soon became the trading headquarters for the whole west coast of India.
Bombay’s fort was built in the 1720s. Soon after, the British began a series of land-reclamation projects that began the century-long process of joining the seven islands into a single land mass. Although Bombay grew steadily during the 18th century, it remained isolated from the surrounding territory until the British defeated the Marathas and annexed substantial portions of Western India in 1818. Growth was spurred by the arrival of steam ships and the construction of the first railway in Asia from Bombay to Thane in 1853. Cotton mills were built in the city the following year, and the American Civil War – which temporarily dried up Britain’s supply of cotton – sparked Bombay’s cotton boom. The fort walls were dismantled in 1864 and the city embarked on a major building spree as it sought to construct a civic townscape to match its new-found wealth and status.
The Great Indian Peninsular Railway facilitated travel within India. This network of commerce and communication led to an accumulation of wealth. This was channeled into building an Imperial Bombay by a succession of Governors. Many of Bombay’s famous landmarks, the Flora Fountain and the Victoria Terminus, date from this time. The water works, including the Hanging Gardens and the lakes were also built at this time. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the massive expansion of Bombay’s docks cemented the city’s future as India’s primary port.
Bombay played a formative role in the Indian struggle for Independence, hosting the first Indian National Congress in 1885 and the launch of the ‘Quit India’ campaign in 1942. After Independence the city became capital of the Bombay Presidency. The Bombay Presidency was divided on linguistic grounds into Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960. Since then, a massive influx of rural migrants has strained the city’s infrastructure and altered its demographics. The most regrettable development was the rise of a militant pro-Marathi regionalist movement, spearheaded by the Shiv Sena municipal government, which shook the city’s multicultural foundations by discriminating against non-Maharashtrans and Muslims. The resulting tensions erupted into bloody riots in the aftermath of the destruction of the Ayodhya mosque in 1992, attributed to supporters of the Shiv Sena. This was followed by 13 bomb blasts that ripped through the city on a single day in March 1993, killing hundreds of Mumbaikers.
In 1996 the Shiv Sena officially renamed the city Mumbai. The change of name led to linguistic confusion, and signaled the intention of the Maharashtra state government to assert the city’s Marathi identity. A further wave of violence followed in 2003, when Islamic terrorists exploded car bombs at the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar in Kalbadevi.
In June 2005 Maharashtra was devastated by flooding after the heaviest rains in recorded Indian history. More than a thousand people died and sixty thousand were left homeless, triggering fears of a new influx of refugees into Mumbai. Nevertheless, the municipal government is committed to the idea of creating a futuristic city of space-age skyscrapers on the north side of Mahim Creek. The ground work has already begun, but part of the scheme involves clearing the slums and there is no clear plan for relocating slum dwellers. So far, more than three hundred thousand people have been left homeless by slum demolitions.
The city was dealt a further blow in July 2006, when seven train bombs killed over 180 people and injured over 700 more. Suspicion fell on the Kashmiri militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, although it denied responsibility for the attack. Tensions between the Hindu and Muslim communities were exacerbated by the incident, but fortunately did not erupt into more rioting. So far the resilient city has resumed its routines
Gateway of India
This 26 meters high stone archway is the first landmark of Bombay a visitor sees when arriving by ship. Designed by Writtet in the 16th century Gujarat style, it was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to India in 1911. This crypto-Moresque archway welcomed numerous viceroys, governors and top civil servants as they disembarked by launch from their P&O steamers. An equestrian statue of Chhatrapatin Shivaji and statue of Swami Vivekhanda have been installed here.
Haji Ali Mosque
This is the tomb of a Muslim saint who died while on pilgrimage to Mecca. It is believed that a casket containing his mortal remains floated across the sea and came to rest on a rocky bed, where devotees constructed the tomb and mosque. It can be visited only at low tide. The island also offers a view of the Mumbai coast. How good the view is depends heavily on the smog that day.
Mani Bhawan
This is the Gandhi Memorial. It is dedicated to the father of modern India, Mahatma Gandhi. He used to stay at House No.19, called Man Bhavan, from time to time between 1917 and 1934. He was arrested here in 1932 and taken off for one of his many prison terms. The building now contains a pictorial gallery, a 20,000 volume research library, a film and recording archive and a set of diorama on the Mahatma’s life.
RaudatTajera
The Dawoodi Bohra Muslims erected a marble mosque and mausoleum honor of their spiritual leader the late Dr. Syedna Taher Safuddin. The lavishly decorated mausoleum has four silver doors and the Koran is inscribed on the inner walls in gold. The air-conditioned Fatemi mosque has 17 arches.
The Afghan Church
This church is dedicated to the British soldiers who fell in the Singh and Afghan comapigns of 1838 and 1843. It is also known as St. Johns Church and was built in 1847. It is an example of Gothic revival. The church consists of the nave and aisles, fluted columns with Doric style capitals, a tower and a spire. It has a beautiful altar, tall pinnacles, 21 lancet windows with exquisite stained glass fixed in the triangular apexes, on either side of the nave.
Jain Temple
Built in marble in 1904, the shrine is dedicated to Adinath, the first Jain Tirthankara or apostle. The walls of the temple are adorned with colorful paintings depicting various incidents in the lives of the 24 tirthankaras of the Jain religion. On the first floor is a special shrine dedicated to Parsvanath carved out of black marble and the ceiling shows the different planets as personified in Hindu mythology.
Pherozsha Mehta Gardens
Popularly known as Hanging gardens they were renamed after the national barrister Pherozshah Mehta. The gardens were laid out in 1881 on top of the reservoir which supplies water in Mumbai. A special feature is the hedges which are cut into animal shapes. In the early hours of the morning the gardens are inhabited by people doing yoga, calisthenhics of just taking walks, while at sunset one can get a stunning view of the city harbor and hills beyond.
Elephanta Island
Every day except Monday, a flotilla of tourist boats heads out from the Gateway of India to this magnificent island, home to the most famous cave temples in Maharashtra. Carved into the solid rock of the island are a series of ornate Shaivite temples, covered in ornate carvings of Hindu deities, dating back to the 5th Century AD. At the entrance to the caves is the famous Trimurti, the celebrated trinity of Elephanta : there’s Lord Brahma the Creator, Lord Vishnu, the preserver and Lord Shiva the Destroyer Unfortunately, many of the sculptures inside have been damaged by iconoclastic Portuguese rulers who took potshots at Hindu Gods with their rifles. The Elephanta island was so named by the Portuguese, after the statue of an elephant near the landing area of the island.
