Perhaps the appropriate place to begin exploring Bombay's colonial legacy is the Gateway of India. Built to commemorate the royal visit of George V and Queen Mary in 1911 but only completed in 1924, the gateway is a combination of European and Indian ceremonial architecture. The last British troops marched out through this gate when India became independent in 1947. Today it is a favourite haunt of tourists.

Excursions :

Elephanta, Kanheri and Bassein

While Mumbai's comparatively recent history means that there are no ancient or even medieval monuments here, three excursions out of the city are steeped in history. About an hour's ride away by motorboat from the basalt facade of the Gateway lies Elephanta, a cave-temple shrine hewn out of solid rock some time in the eighth century A.D. by the Rashtrakuta dynasty who ruled the Deccan from 757 A.D. to 973 A.D. Probably intended as a private place of worship for the ruling family, the exact date of its construction will never be known. The island was plundered by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century; they destroyed the plaque that bore details of its history.

It was the Portuguese who named the island after the large stone elephant that guarded it; the original name is Gharapuri, the fortress city. The elephant has since been shifted and reassembled in the compound of the Bombay Zoo, as guides are quick to point out. The caves represent what is probably the last examples of the golden age of art that flourished in the Gupta period, even though it dates from after that time. Though not as impressive in scale as Ellora, the Elephanta caves are unsurpassed in terms of beauty and eloquence. The Siva Temple originally had three entrances, giving it a cruciform shape; the play of light is constant. The inner sanctuary, beyond the realm of images, has a plain and unadomed yonilingam, the symbol of strength and creativity. Amidst irregular pillars in the Dravidian style, a celestial drama unfolds, the most dramatic of which are Ravana shaking Mount Kailasa and the marriage of Siva and Parvati. The Triurti of Siva is the focal point.

At Kanheri, 42 km from Mumbai, are 109 Buddhist caves dating from around the second to the ninth centuries A.D. Cave 3 is worth a visit, with its grand chaitya (prayer hall) and a long colonnade of pillars. Bassein, on the coast north of Bombay, was once a splendid Portuguese stronghold. Its magnificent fort, where only the Hidalgos (aristocracy) lived, is now in ruins, though vestiges of Portuguese glory still remain.

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