Why visit Mumbai
- Financial capital of India
- Home to the worlds largest film industry
- Site for the famed Elephanta Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site
Mumbai (previously known as Bombay) is a long narrow promontory covering 430 square kilometres (166 square miles), which juts into the Arabian Sea. Its downtown is the historic Fort area in south Mumbai that derives its name from earlier colonial fortifications. This is the city's nerve centre with the best known sights, hotels and restaurants. Mumbai's most famous landmark is the Gateway of India, built to commemorate the memorable visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. It was the first sight to greet travellers to the Indian shores during the heyday of the British Raj. The most impressive example of Victorian Gothic architecture in India is the Victoria Terminus railways station. Richly ornamented extravaganza of domes, spires and arches, it was named to commemorate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee. The Prince of Wales Museum is especially renowned for its superb sculptures and miniature paintings, with the exhibits housed in a grand indo-sarcenic building, designed by George Witted.
Located on an island off Mumbai's eastern shore, lies the 6th century AD Elephanta caves temples, chiselled into a rocky cliff and dedicated to Shiva. The caves contain some great masterpieces of Indian sculpture. Originally called Gharapuri or "Fort city", the island was renamed Elephanta by the Portuguese after a huge stone elephant that once stood here. With the origins of the cave temples lost in obscurity, they in all probability date to the 6th century AD and represent the period of Brahmanical revival after Buddhism began to decline. It is now an UNESCO World Heritage site.
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