Mumbai Mart - Gateway of India

Gateway of India

Gateway of India

From Colaba the Gateway of India is barely ten minutes away by cab. Completed in 1924 at an astonishing cost of 21 lakhs, this triumphal arch was built to commemorate the visit of the first British monarch to set foot on Indian soil - King George the Fifth with his consort Queen Mary in 1911. The foundation of the Gateway was laid at Apollo Bunder on 31st March, 1913. Between 1915 to 1919, the land on which the Gateway was to be built was reclaimed from the sea and a new sea wall was built. The Gateway was formally 'opened' by the then Viceroy, the Earl of Reading, on 4th December,1924.

The monument is a rather lavish expression of imperial supremacy but is also an apt epitaph as the last of British troops, post independence in 1947, marched through the Gateway and onto the ships which took them back to England. The structure itself is quite majestic and an unlikely hybrid of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and a moorish palace, complete with four turrets and fine lattice work carved into the yellow basalt stone.

The statue of Swami Vivekananda, the Indian personality who spread his message of spirituality across the globe, stands a few yards away from the Gateway. Also stands close is a statue of Chattrapati Shivaji, a seventeenth century Maratha leader who personifies the ethnic pride of Mumbai's native Maharashtrians. Both these statues are a recent addition to the Gateway landscape and stand in the middle of a formal front lawn which is a popular gathering place for the public and tourists, specially on weekends.

In the evenings people -- photographers, tourist touts, vendors alike -- throng the area. On the steps leading to the wharf, behind the arch, you can purchase a ticket for a short cruise, of about half an hour duration, on one of the little motor launches. The cruise offers an interesting perspective of the Bombay harbour.