Travel Attractions of Mumbai

Mumbai has lived upto the reputation for which it was established. It is a city built by the residents of the city. Mumbai is more than a cosmopolitan made of concrete buildings.

Mumbai was given by Portuguese as dowry to Charles II of England when he married Catherine. The group of seven island was leased to the East India Company who offered freedom of business and religion to persons who came and settled here. Initially a few Parsis and Gujarati came but soon a sizeable population began to thrive here.

Travel Attractions of Mumbai

Chowpatty Beach
Mumbai's famous beach is no place for a sunbathe or a dip. In fact, there's not much going on at Chowpatty at all during the day, but in the evening it develops a magical atmosphere as locals come to stroll among the balloon sellers, nut vendors and beach entertainers. Eating bhelpuri at the collection of garishly lit stalls on the edge of the beach at night is an essential part of the Mumbai experience, as is getting a vigorous massage from a malish-wallah. Chowpatty is a great place to witness the annual Ganesh Chaturthi Festival in August/September when large images of the elephant-headed god are immersed in the murky sea.

Crawford Market, Mumbai
The colourful indoor Crawford Market (or Phule Market) is the last outpost of British Bombay before the tumult of the central bazaars begins. It used to be the city's wholesale produce market before this was strategically moved to New Bombay. Today it's where central Mumbai goes shopping for its fruit, vegetables and meat.Bas reliefs by Rudyard Kipling's father, Lockwood Kipling, adorn the Norman-Gothic exterior, and an ornate fountain he designed stands buried beneath old fruit boxes at the market's centre.

Fort, Mumbai
The extravagant Victorian gothic buildings in the Fort area reinforce the European roots of the city, and send shivers of recognition down the spines of visitors from the industrial cities of northern England. This lively area occupies the site of the old British built fort and is the established commercial centre of Mumbai. It's jampacked with commuters, street stalls and the grand facades of 19th century British institutions and trading houses.

Victoria Terminus
T the city's most exuberant Gothic building, looks more like a lavishly decorated cathedral or palace than anything as mundane as a transportation depot. Carvings of peacocks, gargoyles, monkeys, elephants and British lions are mixed up among the buttresses, domes, turrets, spires and stained-glass windows. Topping it all is a 4m (13ft) high image of 'Progress' - though the rest of the building looks more like a celebration of Pandemonium. Don't wait until you have to catch a train to see it. Want to know more about Mumbai City, please follow the link-http://www.travellinginindia.com/mumbai/