The biggest of the six islands that were joined to make modern Bombay, was called Mumbadevi. And it had gone to the British from the Portuguese when Catherine of Braganza married Charles II in 1662. Three years later the Portuguese ceded three others of these Marshey Island. Another three years later the Crown leased the entire stretch tourist India Company which turned the Island into a thriving trading port.

WHAT TO SEE:

GATEWAY OF INDIA:
Built to commemorate the visit of King George V, the Gateway of India is a grand order on the Apollo Bunder pier. George Witter, its architect combined Hindu, Muslim and Victorian Style when designing this edifice. Ironically, this was also the place from where the last of the British left India in 1947, ending more the centuries of the Raj.

SASOON DOCK:
Along the coast to the south of the Gateway is the old dock which is named after Bombay’s most famous Jew, David Sasoon. Fishermen’s unloading their catch early in the morning is a spectacle to watch.

MALABAR HILL:
At one end of Marine Drive is this hillock, an exclusive residential area which also houses the Tower of Silence, a round stone construction on which Parsis place their dead to be eaten by vulture, or traditional return to nature. Visitors are not permitted inside. At the op of Malabar hill is the Hanging Gardens with its landscaped shrubs.

MUSEUM:
Apart from the price of Wales Museum on Mahatma Gandhi Road, the Victoria and Albert Museum in byculla houses antiques. Paintings and weapons. But the highlight of the display is a pictorial history of Bombay from when it went the British as dowry in the 1931. The National maritime Museum displays naval memorablia dating back to Alexander of Macedonia. It’s located on the Middle Island, an Indian Navy establishment, that can be reached by tourist boats from the Gateway of India. The F.D. Alpaiwalla Museum located at Kheneghat Memorial Hall in Khareghat Colony, houses Gandhra sculptures, Chinese porcelain and a mummified hand from Egypt.

EXCURSION:

ELEPHANTA CAVES:
Six miles across the harbor from Gateway of India are the Elephanta Caves. There are rock-cut caves in the same tradition as Ajanta and Ellora and the island served as the capital of the Silhara Dynasty during the first century AD. The current name of the island was given by the Portuguese much later after discovering a massive elephant sculpture on the island. The sculpture, among other carved deities, were used for target Practice by Portuguese soldiers. The cave temple contains a combination of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist iconography and are dated between 450 AD. To 750 AD.

KARLA CAVES:
Near the Scenically set town of Conarala and Khandala, which nestle in the misty Western Ghats, on the Bombay –Pune road, these caves are some of the oldest anywhere in India and the date to 80 BC. When Buddhist monks in the Hinayana tradition chiselled them out of solid Deccan Plateau rock. Giant steps lead past a waterfall to the main cave which has a large player hall. The pillars in the hall are ribbed and feature sculptured animals.

STANDARD SIGHTSEEING TOURS:
Half day excursion to Aarey Milk Colony and Juhu Beach. Aarey Milk Colony is the largest dairy farm in Asia. Near the entrance in the observation Pavilion is the place from where you can see the process of pasteurization and bottling of milk. Aarey meets most of the milk need of Bombay. Later, visit Juhu beach with a 5 km. stretch of golden beach fringed by Palm trees and a number of restaurants.

Half day excursion across the harbor to the world famous, 1200 years old Elephanta Caves, dedicated to Lord Shiva. The famous sculpture signifying the trinity the Creator, the preserver and the Destroyer is located here.

Half day excursion to Juhu Beach with rows of beach hotels on the sea front. Very popular for sea bathing, it offers a 5 km. starch of golden sand, fringed by Palm trees and a numbers of restaurants.

Half day tour visiting Kamala Nehru Park, Hanging Gardens situated on the slopes of Malabar Hill, offering a panoramic view of Marine Bhawan, Dhobi Ghat, Gateway of India and drive through the Crawford Market, Marine Drive and Flora Fountain.