Audio Guided Walking Tour on HopOn India App – From Gateway to Fountain, Mumbai

Why choose this Mumbai tour ?

The Gateway to Fountain walk through HopOn India app tells you the story of Bombay – how its past and present exist together and influence each other even today.

The most special features of this experience are : 1. The App opens up new places and new stories for you in the same old cities 2. Each walk is crafted like a masterpiece to offer an immersive experience to the traveller with the correct mix of history, culture, myth, food , through professional narration, with background scores of music, qawalli or sound affects, here and there 3. There is no need for you to depend on a guide – the traveller can take the walk anytime as per will, at his/ her own pace 4. The content is developed by domain experts and curated with utmost care, leaving no room for dependence on the guide’s knowhow 5.You pay once for three months and need not pay the guide repeatedly.

This walk takes you through the oldest, the most beautiful and most famous district of Bombay

Audio Guided Walking Tour on HopOn India App – From Gateway to Fountain, Mumbai

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What makes Audio Guided Walking Tour on HopOn India App – From Gateway to Fountain, Mumbai a unique experience ?

The Gateway was a monument built to commemorate travel,

commerce – and, of course, the might of the British Empire. It

was the entry point into the most happening city of India,and

was named Urbs Prima in Indis or the foremost city in India by

the colonial administration. . It was the site of cotton trading

during the cotton boom. It was the port of entry into India for

important colonial officials, merchants and traders, and British

army officers. Ironically, it was also the point of exit for the

last British troops who had held India. The style of architecture you will be looking at is called the Indo-

Saracenic or Indo-Gothic style, or simply Bombay Gothic. The

architects of this style were inspired by native Indian and

middle-eastern Islamic traditions; they combined these with the

Gothic revival and Neo-Classical movements that were

flourishing in Britain during the 19th century. Don’t be

surprised, if during your tours, you come across several

structures with the high arches and ornate carvings like in

cathedrals, only to be topped with domes and minarets like a

Turkish palace! You can linger about and marvel at the statues of Swami

Vivekananda and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.They’re both

icons of Indian history. Swami Vivekananda also sailed from

here on his historic visit at the Chicago Parliament of Religions

in 1893. He ended up introducing the western world to Hindu

spiritual practices and ideals.

The Taj Mahal Palace hotel comprises two buildings: a tall,

relatively new-looking one to the right, and an older, grander

building to the left. The entrance to The Taj is through the new

building, and I recommend that you stand across the street from

this entrance as I tell you the story of the Hotel.

If you stand in front of the Taj, you will find yourself in the

middle of an interesting panorama of Mumbai life. Behind you

stands the Gateway of India, bustling with tourists. On your

extreme left you are likely to see quaint old carriages, called

Victorias, dressed up in gaudy colours and pulled by rather sad-

looking horses. On your right, the traffic blares away. Every

once in a while you will see a fancy car pull up into the

driveway of the Taj, carrying elegantly dressed guests who

may have come to stay at this iconic hotel or just stopped by

for a bite at the many restaurants here.

Built in 1903, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel was, for several

decades, the first sighting for visitors sailing into Apollo

Bunder Harbour. The island city of Bombay has its British

colonial history to thank for most of its heritage structures. But

for Indians it is quite a satisfying thought that the Taj Mahal

Palace Hotel – one of our most iconic, beautiful and luxurious

buildings was built by an Indian. The Taj hotel is exquisitely pretty, built in the same Indo-

Saracenic style as the Gateway. It combines this style with

elements of Byzantine or Medieval Turkish architecture, so if

you look up you will see its domes sitting like fat onions on top

of its high Gothic ceilings. It even has latticework on its

balconies in the Arabic style.

Before we reach to Leopold cafe we will be visiting Lansdowne Road and Tulloch Road. At Lansdowne Road you will spot some fancy curio shops and the Bowen Memorial Methodist Church. You will come to another lane that

leads to the left, known as Tulloch road. It is down this lane

that we will go, for it contains some of Colaba’s hidden

treasures.For decades, this lane has been the centre of Mumbai’s

nightlife: A delectable pit stop for the city that never sleeps. No

matter how late you turn up here you will find good food, good

booze and good cheer. First, to your left stands Bade Miya –

the kababwalas who have been feeding the city’s hungry

partygoers since 1946. If you happen to come to Bade Miya

during the evening hours when it operates, we recommend you

try the succulent mutton seekh kabab and the bhuna gosht. Or

if you’re a vegetarian, go for a juicy plate of paneer tikka.you will see Gokul on the right.

Gokul has been the provider of cheap drinks to students like me

and young professionals since the 1960s, to your right. At

Gokul you can try their coastal-style fish preparations like

bombil fry and surmai fry with the poison of your choice.

Just a few steps after Gokul you will also find Baghdadi –

another low-priced eatery. As famished students, my friends

and I would raid Baghdadi every Friday night after drinks at

Gokul, gorging on the mutton biryani or the chicken fry or

chicken Afghani. True to the name, the rotis you will get at

Baghdadi are in the middle-eastern style: they’re huge, almost

30 inches in diameter, and one is more than enough to fulfill

your cravings.

Imagine that. You have two iconic monuments on one side and

the sumptuous bazaar of Colaba Causeway on the other, and

yet this tiny gulli holds enough of the city’s treasures to have a

presence of its own.

For over 50 years, Cafe Leopold has been the confluence, the

meeting point, of all the streams of life and multicultural

experiences that we Mumbaikars are so proud of. Cafe Leopold

is the favourite haunt of foreign tourists and visiting expats,

non-resident Indians, and locals who are looking for world

class restaurant culture combined with the warmth of Indian

hospitality. Have you read ‘Shantaram’, the best-selling book

about life in Mumbai, by author Gregory David Roberts? In

the book, he describes Cafe Leopold as “a place for people to

see, to be seen and to see themselves in the act of being seen”.

This is not so true anymore. But what cannot be denied is that

Leopold itself has been, and continues to be, the place with an

international feel to it. From hippies in the 60s and 70s, to

Arabs and Afghans in the early 80s, then backpackers through

the 80s and 90s and expats ever since then.

And of course, as a peaceful, lively and open-hearted meeting

place of different cultures, Leopold could not escape the

tragedy of the November 2008 terrorist attack. Two terrorists

hurled a grenade and fired bullets into this crowd, causing the

painful loss of many lives. Proud of its strength, Leopold has

preserved the bullet holes on its walls.

Colaba Causeway is one of Mumbai’s busiest and most

colourful streets. It is a noisy carnival, a riot of stalls cramped

together so tight that they appear fused to each other. On any

average day if you come here between 11am and 5pm, the

bazaar is usually teeming with shoppers and you might struggle

to negotiate the next 100 meters or so to our next stop. As you

snake your way through the endless crowd you will find stalls

selling endless varieties of cheap fashion accessories and

souvenirs. If you ever want to find out what’s trending among

the young – the college crowd and struggling 20-somethings,

you just have to take a stroll through this market. T-shirts and

scarves, belts and boots, funky pendants and fridge magnets,

it’s all here. But the secret pleasure of shopping at Colaba

Causeway lies not in the products themselves – but in the thrill

of Bargaining. If you cruise slowly along the bazaar and

observe the people, you can watch how deals are struck. You

can watch as the high drama of negotiation unfolds about you,

and how youngsters fight like tigers in their prime.

If you stand outside this

dimly lit cafe, you may hear american pop classics playing on

the jukebox and the humming of conversation. Along with

Leopold, Mondegar is a giant of the old-world restaurant

culture. Started in the 30s, Mondegar was the first

establishment in Mumbai to get a jukebox. Many an avid

customer has paid the small fee and dedicated a song to his

date at dinner! If you plan to go in, you can ask the staff if the

jukebox still works.

There is usually a 5-10 minute waiting time before you land a

table, but once you do, you will want to spend 5-10 hours. The

food is great, the servers are happy to leave you to your

conversation, and the ambience is always genial and charming.

At the corner you will

arrive at the Regal Cinema house to your right. Once you reach

the entrance to the theatre, do pause to take a look at this

magnificent old institution. It is a throwback to a bygone era,

when going to the movies ‘was an art’. Beautifully designed in

the Art Deco style of the time, Regal was inaugurated in

1933…when Mumbai was gathering its reputation as home to

the magical world of films. Plush decor, luxurious seats, velvet

curtains – Regal was a grand tribute to the importance of

cinema in the culture of Mumbai. People would book tickets

well in advance, dress up in their finest clothes and jewellery,

and come to the theatre in Tongas, or horse-drawn carriages.

The theatre was also known for its refreshments, in particular

the ice cream, and this reputation was well-founded. As a child

in the early 90s, I would eagerly await family outings to Regal,

drawn here less by the films and more by the promise of

getting a softie ice cream from one of the few softie dispensers

in the city. Not surprisingly, Regal evokes all kinds of nostalgia

in old Mumbaiwalas. Why don’t you take a look at what’s

playing there now?

The Wellington Fountain is named

after Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. He was

called the ‘Iron Duke’ for his victories in important battles. The

Duke of Wellington was just a young colonel when he defeated

Tipu Sultan, the fierce king of Mysore in southern India.

Strangely, despite this and other achievements, Lord

Wellington was not much appreciated back home. Then he

fought Napoleon, and defeated him in the famous battle of

Waterloo, and, well, you know what happens to your record

when you defeat Napoleon, right? He was handsomely

rewarded with accolades and a dukedom, he rose to become

Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, and eventually he

served as the Prime Minister of England for two terms. He

visited Bombay in 1801 and 1804, but this fountain was only

built in 1865 to commemorate his visit. I guess you could call

this an interesting roundabout quite literally – it’s all ‘round

you, and fun to know about!

Now for the statue behind you. This is of one of our former

prime ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri.

This large, elegant construction used to be The Royal Alfred

Sailor’s home. It was designed by F.W. Stevens, the very same

architect who designed the breathtaking Victoria Terminus,

which we will visit on one of our walks. It was completed in

1876. Today, it houses the headquarters of the Maharashtra

Police. Find a convenient place to stand and look up at the facade. At the top, you will see a delicately carved sculpture on a

triangular piece of stone. This is a carving of Neptune, Roman

God of freshwater and the Sea.

For now

you are off the Colaba Causeway and in the ‘fort’ area. In doing

so, you have just entered the main Bombay island for the first

time! The causeway was completed over 200 years ago to

connect the island of Colaba to the island of Bombay. Before

that, this ground that you are standing on used to be just ocean
– and people would actually drown trying to cross over!

You have also entered what is known as the art district of

Mumbai. The first art institution in this section is the National

Gallery of Modern Art, or the NGMA for short.

This is the Prince of

Wales Museum, now known as the Chhatrapati Shivaji

Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya – renamed after the great maratha

king Shivaji. The museum is one of Mumbai’s greatest

treasures, and you cannot leave Mumbai without spending at

least 2 to 3hours admiring its diverse collection.

The architect who designed the Museum was George Wittet,

the very same man who also designed the Gateway of India.

Do you notice the Indo-Saracenic architectural features we

discussed earlier? The Museum covers a built-up area of over

12,000 square metres, and has over 50,000 artefacts in its

collection. The collection falls under three categories: Art,

Archaeology and Natural History – so you see, there’s

something for everyone.

The college is

named after Monstuart Elphinstone, who was Governor of

Bombay province nearly 200 years ago. It was the Honourable

Elphinstone who recognised that the province of Bombay could

be more than just a naval base for the British, that it could be a

city in its own right. The college was established in 1856. It is

here that the Western System of Education took root in

Bombay. Several of its graduates went on to play important

roles in Bombay’s and even India’s history as they went on to

become religious reformists, political commentators,

businessmen and even freedom fighters.

Built in 1952, this gallery provided a space for the young artists

of Independent India to unleash their creative genius on the

country. It was commissioned by Sir Cowasji Jehangir, 2nd

Baronet of Bombay, who came from a highly distinguished

family in Bombay’s history. The Jehangirs, originally the

Readymoneys, were a wealthy Parsi family who were part of

English colonial royalty. The first patriarch was Sir Cowasji

Jehangir Readymoney. He funded the construction of the

Elphinstone College building that you just saw, and also the

elegant Convocation Hall of the Mumbai University.

This lofty sculpture of a horse is made in bronze. What do you

think of it? While you gaze at it, let me tell you the ironic story

of the place that you are standing in. This locality, specifically,

is known as ‘Kala Ghoda’, or Black Horse. “Ah,” you might

say, “So this neighbourhood is named after the statue!” I hate

to be the one to break it to you, but in fact the sculpture of a

Black Horse was installed here because the neighbourhood was

originally known as Kala Ghoda! You see, in colonial times,

there used to be a statue of King Edward the VIIth, Prince of

Wales, riding a horse, at this very spot. That’s how the

neighbourhood originally came to be called ‘Kala Ghoda’.

If you are taking this tour after 11am, you will find the corner

outside Khyber packed with many stalls that form one of

Mumbai’s informal and open food courts, selling sandwiches

and sugarcane juice among other snacks. Such stalls are vital

for the working folk who cannot afford the fancy restaurants in

this neighbourhood.

The restaurant Khyber, is named after the famous Khyber pass

which formed the historical land route between Asia and the

Indian Subcontinent. Today, the region is known as the Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Khyber is a landmark of

fine dining that serves what they call ‘Northwest Frontier

Cuisine’.

The Keneseth Eliyahoo synagogue was built by the grandson of

David Sassoon. It is maintained with much dedication by the

few remaining Jews in the city. The synagogue was completed

in 1884, and it is beautifully decorated on the inside with

pillars made of Burma teak and large stained glass windows.

The atmosphere inside is old enough and quiet enough to make

you stop to examine your soul. When visiting as young 20-year

old students, we were fascinated by the sombre prayer hall, the

mystic symbols on the windows, and the aged prayer books in

Hebrew.

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Audio Guided Walking Tour on HopOn India App – From Gateway to Fountain, Mumbai
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