Victoria Terminus

CST !

This is one the most breath taking buildings I find in Mumbai.
As soon as you see this building, you get this feeling of pride mixed with patriotism......This building is a spectacular example of Victorian Architecture.

What surprises me is How those thousands of travelers every single day don't seem to notice the beauty of CST/ VT as popularly called. They rush in and out and don't seem to have a moment to gasp at the beautiful carvings.
The stained glasses, those small monkeys on the pillars(yes there are - you need to just notice them), the beautiful flower carvings etc all go sadly unnoticed by more than 99% people visiting CST.

Ironically is this was for them to travel somewhere in Europe and there they visit such an architecture, all would roam about it with craned necks and jaws dropped. ! Why cant we be proud of what our city has? This thought always saddens me.
Anyway moving from the gloomy side of this, CST hubs 19 platforms, 11 meant for local and 8 for out-station. This architecture was built to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Victoria. I always have wondered, if we were to see the other side of the coin of English Rule over Mumbai it would include CST, Mumbai University, High Court, Flora Fountain, nothing would have ever existed. All these were either initiatives of the British or gifts built for them .
We always say yes its the "Victorian" Architecture, and true that the architect was also English, but we seem to never mention the importance, or we never seem to highlight those innumerable number of LOCAL workers, who helped create their imagination. For those times I don't think I mistake if I say imagination. Such magnanimity for those days is astonishing.  The architect yes planned, drew out the plans for CST, but those workers who executed it ? Thought Provoking !

CST is a WORLD UNESCO HERITAGE CENTRE!

This building has the royalty linked with it very clearly! 

An Evening at Cafe at the Beach, Chowpaaty

For a Week I stayed at a building named Ganga Vihar, at Marine Drive.

This was almost a break from the traffics of the suburban Mumbai.

I went to this place called Cafe at the Beach, at my favorite "H2O- Water Complex".

This Cafe is one of its kind in South of Mumbai. It is very serenely placed over the most clean part of Chowpatty, and beautiful candles and lampshades light up the place romantically in the evenings. The menu is quite extensive for a "Cafe", but very delicious food.

The Mojito and Margaritas are very decorative indeed. Gives you a perfect BEACH feeling.

What we did was Para-sailed and chartered a Jet Ski, were drenched in salt-water and then sat at the Cafe for a cool breeze. The waiters also are well dressed in their three-quarter pants and funky floral shirts.

So, this is exactly where we sat. Isn't it beautiful ! 

Mumba Devi

Mumba Devi :

This temple is situated in the heart of Zaveri Bazaar in Bhuleshwar, Mumbai.


Well all I knew about this temple earlier was, Mumbai had derived her name from the goddess Mumba Devi.

This Goddess amongst the innumerable God and Goddesses in Indian Religions, is the Goddess of the kolis (the fishermen) The Kolis are the native inhabitants of Mumbai, as Mumbai comprised of 7 islands earlier.

The name Bombay also means in Portuguese "Good Harbor".

Well Mumba Devi's Religious Beliefs lay way back in the 15th century.
The story goes like " There was a vicious Demon-giant named Mumbarak (After whom the island was named).
By means of austerities he pleased Brahmadev and prayed to him to be favoured with a blessing that he would be incapable of meeting with death at anybody's hands, and that he would ever prove successful.

Having once secured the blessing, he set out to harass both people and the Gods on earth. All the Gods therefore proceeded en masse to Vishnu to seek his protection and prayed to him to destroy their foe.

Upon this, Vishnu and Shiv extracted a portion of lustre, each from his own body, and made of it a goddess or Devi for the destruction of the giant. The goddess then beat Mumbarak almost to death and threw him down on the ground and told him to ask for a blessing. He entreated her to join his own name with hers and to perpetuate that name on earth.

"The goddess accordingly granted his prayer and named herself Mumbadevi."


This temple is said to have been built in 1675 at Bori Bunder where now the CST is, but was destroyed in between 1739-1745.

Current Scenario of the Temple:

Where the temple is located, that particular street is blocked for security reasons. As a typical scene from any temple, you would find flower vendors and 'pooja thali' vendors, who would tell you, take some offering for the Goddess in.

Mumbai, the land of opportunities and the place of multi- cultural feast of traditions and religion has derived its name from the religious Mumbadevi temple which is dedicated to the Goddess Mumbadevi.

This renowned temple serves as the ultimate tourist destination savoring the history of Mumbai, as well as its rich religious significance .(Quoted from http://www.facebook.com/exploremumbai)

Hanging Gardens

So over this weekend, we happened to go to hanging gardens twice.

Now technically the hanging gardens at Malabar Hill was built over three reservoirs which can store up to 300 million gallons of water!

This is one of the only gardens which has the old red soil of Maharashtra. A rare sight in Mumbai.

The flower beds, the trees, the scenic beauty has been well kept by the government, and inevitably the Hanging Gardens tends to be in the top list of Tourist Attraction Spots.

Well, very frankly the number of visitors we take remain enthusiastic only till the time we enter Hanging Gardens. Nevertheless, yes they are fascinated by the red soil and the fact of being built over reservoirs, they prefer the view from the opposite Kamla Nehru Park.

Well yes this view is quite breath taking. You stand there and and you witness the entire Marine Drive, Queens Necklace as well as the Chowpatty. I guess this is only of its kind spot.

To go here in the evening and slowly watch the expanse of sand at chowpatty be speckled by toy-looking humans.

It is quite artistic, and personally a better tourist spot then the former Hanging Gardens.

What are your views on the same?

Visiting Babulnath Temple, Mumbai

So last Monday we visited the Babulnath Temple. It is located at the end of the beautiful Marine Drive.

It is a Lord Shiva Temple. He is worshiped in his most famous form - the "Shiva Linga".

There is a 108 flight of Steps before you reach the Temple. 108 is an auspicious number according to Hindu Numerology. Hence it is said while climbing up you can chant the Mantra "Om Namah Shivaye" 108 times. What interested me was how every step had a "Diya" and "Belpatra" (An auspicious leaf offered to Shiva). On asking the priest he said that during "Shivratri" (the main festival of Shiva), each step has the Diya lit and the queue of worshipers can while climbing up offer the Belpatra 108 times, which later all together is offered on the Shiva Linga.

This temple is probably located in one of the busiest areas of Mumbai as it sort of connects all the main roads in South of Mumbai. What interested me was that located at 1000 feet above sea level, it was a very quiet and serene place. As you climbed the steps upward you got a feeling as you were leaving all the noise and pollution behind.

It is believed that with a little strain physically you reach mental austerity. Well This is true. Outside the temple there is a white marble stretch well shaded. I was fascinated by a cats gymnastics sitting there. I suppose i should have been meditative, but the cat performed the most graceful gymnastics ever.

Saw a priest, asked him so please tell me the story behind this Temple. This is like an implied law, every temple has a story or legend hidden behind. This one had a very interesting one. Want to know more about it ? Contact us on " info@exploremumbai.in" or leave a message on "http://www.facebook.com/exploremumbai" !

Going down the steps is always so much easier. Pheww.!

Famished by then we simply crossed the road for the very tasty and different food at Soam Restaurant.

Happy and Satisfied Ending! :)

The Parsee Tower of Silence.

Well what does the name suggest to you. "Tower Of Silence". Well yes it must be as no non-parsee is allowed to visit it or even view it.

The structure is a raised circular structure for portraying the Dead. What the Parsees basically do is, they lay the corpses out there in the vertical columns made. The bodies of Men are arranged in the outer ring whereas women form the inner, and children form the innermost ring.

The tradition says that they believe their hair and nails in addition to the dead body to be "unclean" - as possible pollutants. Hence they believed not to pollute earth, instead be useful as food for Vultures.

Now the vultures eat the flesh, what about the bones? Well once the bones have been bleached by the sun and wind, (may take upto a year), they are piled in the centre of the pit. From here they are lift to disintegrate. The remaining material -with run-off rainwater—runs through multiple coal and sand filters before being eventually washed out to sea

Now these were the simple facts you could probably find any where on the internet. What intrigued me was WHY would they do this, (apart from the pollutant belief). Such traditions have to generate somewhere. 

Hence I would like to share a story my History Teacher told me back in school, which has stuck to me well. 

She said when the Parsees came in India the very first time they entered the sea from the South of India. On approaching the King then at his 'durbar', they said we plead for some shelter in your land till we find a way to go back. Upon this the king told his minister to get a brimful glass of water. Showing that to the Parsee he said 'O Nobleman, My land is like this glass of water, in which even if a single drop of water would be added, it would overflow. Hence, I am sorry." 

The Parsee removed a pinch of salt from his belongings and adding it to the water said 'O King, I promise that all Parsees would do what salt does in water. We would dissolve so well in your community, that you do not have to worry about the over-flowing.' To convince him further he said 'Also I promise we would not try to change any Hindus religion or beliefs or promote any conversions, hence we would not marry a Hindu, we would make cousins get married to each other. We would be useful to your land- Even after our death. We would feed ourselves to the Vultures of your community." The king impressed at the wit of this man, gave his will and permission.

This story plays on my mind till date. Hence when we visited the Hanging Gardens and Tower Of Silence, I was proudly sharing this story with the Germans who were amazed at the Tower Of Silence.

The Gateway Of India.

The inscription reads "Erected to Commemorate the landing in India of their Imperial Majesties King George V and Queen Mary on the Second of December MCMXI.

Wonder why the Gateway of India is called so. It is pretty simple. This was the "Gateway" to any governors or Viceroys to land in Mumbai, India. 

Its Architecture had traits of Roman Triumphant Archs as well as it is a perfect blend of Hindi-Muslim styles of architecture.The Gateway has four turrets and has intricate designs of lattice work. The cost of its making was 2.1 lakhs then.

Also the last of British troops and Sails had ironically set out from the Gateway of India on February 2nd, 1948.

Dating back then ironically it was the significance of British Majestic Powers, and today is a hotspot for tourist attractions and a significant pride of Mumbaikars. 

All of us agree we have seen the Gateway, probably even taken a ferry, but has any of us ever wondered why actually was it built, named so, what was inscribed, why are we not allowed "inside" of the Gateway. 

What lacks probably today is the "want to know" the "inquisitiveness", about your own homeland! 

Afghan Church

Afghan Church:

The Church of St John the Evangelist, better known as the Afghan Church is located at the Navy Nagar, in Colaba.

It not only commemorates British Soldiers as well as Indian Soldiers such as the Bombay Army, the Madras Army, and Ranjit Singh's army from Lahore. Records also mention that only one person, one Surgeon William Brydon - a medical officer - out of 16,000 men, returned safely to Jalalabad to tell the tale of a war in which the British suffered their heaviest defeat yet.

The architecture is built of limestone and basalt.

This picture is not of the current era, but it astonishes me how Mumbai encompasses EVERYTHING.
I would definitely wonder how Mumbai, the financial capital of India manages to store in her, a heritage site like Afghan Church which dates back to the 1880s and 1890s.

Banganga Tank, Walkeshwar.

Banganga Tank, Walkeshwar, Mumbai.



It is hidden behind one of the posh areas in Mumbai,Banganga Tank has holy significance dating back to the 14th century. It is situated in Walkeshwar temple complex on the southernmost tip of Malabar Hill in South Mumbai.

As the legend of the holy book Ramayana goes, overcome with fatigue and thirst, Rama asked his brother Lakshmana to bring him some water. Laxman instantly shot an arrow into the ground, and water gushed forth from the ground, creating a tributary of the Ganges, which flows over a thousand miles away, hence its name, Banganga, the Ganga created on a baan (arrow).

The tank was rebuilt in 1715 AD.

One astonishing fact is that the water of the tank is sweet, considering the fact that it is so near to all the gallons of salt water.

It is a rectangular shaped water tank with a temple crowning it on the western flank built by the Silhara Kings.

It always astonishes me how Mumbai manages to encompass EVERYTHING. You might think such things would happen only in Varanasi, but no! Mumbai has it!

 THE PAINTER.
Last two weeks were such a holiday. You would wonder if any place is worth a Holiday within this busy city.
YES there is ! I stayed with a cousin right opposite the Marine Drive. It was the most "fresh" and noise free area to stay in. It was intriguing to see how hundreds of people would walk by the sea to keep themselves free, and more over how many sat there facing the horizon, lost in their creative thoughts. Walking back home, I had an opportunity to meet one of the finest artists( considering I haven't come across many). He was the stereotype of any painter. Lost, creative, almost ragged clothes and  paint all over his body. He was using his hand to paint the beautiful scene of the sunset. He just used 3 colors - orange, blue and white. The smallest of ripples was drawn by him with his fingers. Noticing me notice him for so long, he managed a smile and asked me if I wished to join him. Luckily I did. I managed to see his rest painting on his Mobile - All were MUMBAI. A picture can actually speak a 1000 words. It was amazing. Telling him of Explore Mumbai - impressed he was. Gave me very valuable tips and ideas too - creative after all, its a matter of seconds for them.
I wish to come across him very soon.


P.S : Back home - I Want to go back to Marine Drive ASAP !!

Town Hall

                                                  In the olden days....


Asiatic Town Hall.

Established as earlier as the 19th Century.

• The library contain thousands of books out of which 15,000 are proudly classified as rare and valuable.
• It has innumerable artifacts.
• It has more than 3,000 ancient manuscripts in Persian, Sanskrit and Prakrit.
• It has a collect of 11,829 coins out of which an important and one-of-its-kind Gold Mohur of Akbar stand out.
• Has a collection of 300 maps, taking you through the forming of Mumbai.

Probably you might wonder a library to be one of the most dull and boring places to be. You never know ALL the history, conspiracy, legends and myths that lies beneath these libraries. 

You might wonder - WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS !!

It is nothing but as simple simple as some-ones home !! Do no ridicule this fact - it is Mr. Mukesh Ambanis House in Mumbai called ANTILLA.

It is recorded to be the WORLDS most expensive house!

It is a 27 storey building - impossible to put your finger on, what facility is NOT there!

I got a good chance to get a close look at its top floor. My Uncle stays in a building namely "Kshitij" and his room faces the upper floors of this building. Having very powerful binoculars I innocently tried to 'peep' in their house - without realising that very obviously they have taken care of their privacy! Their walls are strongly double layers - preventing any sort of laser entry and their glasses are again layered - preventing any 'peeping' inside.

Its current value is much more than 20 Billion Dollar.

Also factually, it is the ONLY billion dollar house in the WORLD.

What else did Mumbai need!

Dinner at Copper Chimney

We managed to go for a family dinner after what seems ages. We decided our always preferred Copper Chimney. 20 minutes from our house it is perfectly located at Oberoi Mall, Goregaon. The mall was crazily full of people being a Sunday. There were queues waiting to get a seat in one of the restaurants. Also to cherry the cake IPL (Indian Premier League) is on. Mumbai, where cricket is played in ever nook and corner, when IPL arrives the TRP goes triple higher!! Luckily getting a seat at preference, 10 of us took our seat right in middle of the restaurant. Copper Chimney would earlier serve their food also in classic copper plates and vessels, so it was a sad sight to see those cliche glass plates being artistically laid in front of us.
Ultimately food mattered more than the cutlery. Years by gone have seemed to always add on to the taste of their menu. With their classical Maharaja Dal (Black Lentils) and a great variety of Chicken cooked with Indian spices its a perfect places for all taste buds.
In a lump some 1 hour we managed to finally convince ourselves to leave. What we probably really missed then was the famous Indian Paan (leafed after-food re-freshener)!
Letting one single leaf not get the better of our moods, we simply returned home lazily and plopped on our beds and slept like stones - ONLY TO BE SURPRISED THE NEXT DAY ;)

A Busy Week

It has been a crazily busy week. The Germans seemed to have just fallen in love with our guide - Kirtan. They wanted another tour ONLY if he was available! It has been a successful week for him too.
With all the appointments, and the increasing scorch of the heat - the work is becoming strenuous day by day. With all the hard work comes the satisfaction at night when you are finally cozy in your bed. You almost feel you have earned your sleep and you deserve it. Its an amazing feeling.
When the whole world seems to be working according to you, its a feeling of expansion in the heart, collecting accolades all they way is simply a spirit-booster.

Ayurveda

Late Afternoon I had the opportunity to take an Ayurvedic Treatment at one of the Kerala Centres in Mumbai.......

There was this amazing treatment of "Potli" in which they use a hot compress ball ( which is made of all ayurvedic and Indian herbs), this warm potli is correctly pressed into points of your back which are painful! Its the best feeling ever.....imagine some one squeezing out pain from your tired muscle so gently....

Followed by it was Shirodhara (which literally means head-stream) in which oil from a "kalash" or v-shapped vessel, would be poured on the centre of your forehead......this ancient therapy from the South of India is profound in its cure for severe head aches, migraines and hyper tension.

Totally took me a 2 hours, but was equivalent of a good 8 hour sleep. So fresh and charged now, I am ready to be working all night !

*Credits to Kerala Ayurveda

Early Morning Drive :

Getting no sleep, probably struck by insomnia or should i call it the excitement, I left for an early morning drive ! The always "on-move" city, the always "honking" city was so quiet and divine! You could hear the crows, the leaf fall - hard to imagine for a city  like Mumbai.

Where you see a minimum of 100s of people in every street you turn, there were only few countable milkmen or newspaper boys. There was this one old "kaka" as we call, or old uncle with a stereo type white mustache who was standing by the sea and selling the most famous "cutting-chai" ! No other tea in any 5-Stars can also compete with these local tea vendors.

Driving through the Sea Link was beautiful as you could see tiny waves catching up with the morning, birds dipping in to probably bathe or drink water, the cemented road also seemed to join nature by awakening into dew drops!

It was a beautiful morning drive - in this beautiful city of Mumbai !  

Lazy Sunday

Sunday, I didnt know would get so lucky for me.....I thought it was just another lazy Sunday and was just preparing my self for the very hectic schedule ahead.....Who knew I would get my very first big contract successful on April Fools Day :) .
Haahahah :)

The Feeling When You Finally Search for your own Website

Caught up at a seminar in the evening only Explore Mumbai kept popping in my mind, I just had to be there when i could go to my URL and type "exploremumbai.in"!
When you are so excited, only then your laptop has to have 5 % battery remaining and you are unable to check the website while driving back home.
And also only on such days it will happen so that you are almost an hour away from your residence and you end up being caught in one of those unlikely traffic jams!
Any which ways i guess these simply add to your excitement when you see the "Welcome" page developing in front of your eyes.
Phewww now that it is finally "On Board" we need to sail the boat in the rough seas........

My Inspiration

Viewing this stupendous sunrise everyday from my balcony it inspires me, and feels me with enthusiasm. The Powai Lake is probably the most beautiful view to live by in the crowded suburban areas. Hiranandani Complex is no less from country sides of Europe with shopping arcades, cafes by the corner, and broad clean roadways. 

Excited Jitters

Upon the final day I assumed i would have been relaxed and relieved, it is quite the contradictory. 

The final nervousness combined with satisfaction is a weird mix feeling. I m excited and confident about the launch wheras at the same time i realise all the work that comes along now. 

All the Best to my Team without whom we wouldnt have arrived on today.

Launch Date

Launch :

Finally after all the work we happily launch our website on 1st April, Sunday