MUMBAI CITY GUIDE

MUMBAI CITY GUIDE

Mumbai the city that never sleeps is the capital of Maharashtra. Mumbai is once was the conglomerate of seven islands which was a gift to King Charles II in the year 1661 when he married Princess Catherine de Braganza of Portugal. With the colonisation of the British Empire coming to an end Mumbai has changed into a different unit with flourishing markets, houses of business and different and varied communities coming together thus it’s a true image of being a cosmopolitan in nature. Mumbai is the capital state and Marathi is the official language though English and Hindi are other language that is widely spoken. Mumbai offers a spread of delectable street food namely the vada pau is almost the staple diet for the busy professionals always on the move. The city is joined with the energetic and is full of vigour yet deep rooted traditions and customs dwell in the heart of the city, its shopper’s paradise almost for every age and social strata of the society, the streets are booming with culture and it is also the seat for the Hindi film industry popularly known as the Bollywood. This industry makes the largest number of films in a year across the world. Mumbai provides fodder for the adventurous and those with romance in their heart with its variety of sports activities, pubs and an exciting night life .The wonderful beaches and fast food centres are crowd pullers and the aged, the rich, the poor everybody comes to enjoy the sun sand and the sea.

The term Mumbai originated from Mumba and the word Aai which meant the goddess of the kolis. Mumbai was a part of the Mauryan Empire and then it was rules successively by the Silhara dynasty and in the 13^th century King Bhimdev found his kingdom at Mahim and got situated at Mumbai. Mughals took over Mumbai during 1347 and had ruled over it till 1407.In the year 1493 Bahadur Khan Gilani the den Bahamani Sultante tried to rule over the seven islands but was defeated. Later the Portuguese ruled over Mumbai and were very active in the progress of the development of the Roman Catholic religion in Mumbai, then Bombay.

Mumbai is demarcated into two region the City district and the Suburban district. The total land area is 603 square kilometre and is under the supervision of the municipal corporation of greater Mumbai and according to 2011 census Mumbai has a total population of 12,479,608 that is twenty thousand people living every per square kilometre. There is low female sex ratio primarily because of the migrant male sex who comes to the city for pursuing their profession. It is surrounded by the Arabian Sea at its west of the city and the sea is not the source of water to the city but it gets it water supply from six lakes namely Virar, Lower and Upper Vaitrna, Tulsi, Tansa and Powai Lake. The need of water for industry as well as agriculture is also met with the supply from these lakes.

Mumbai experiences a tropical climate of being both wet and dry because of its proximity to the sea. It receives torrential rain during the monsoons and June July is marked as the wettest months .From November the city cools down and share a very light winter compared to the rest of the country till the month of February. The temperature during the summers are somewhat levelled at 27 degrees Celsius with almost 100% humidity along with it.

There are a number of tourist attraction in the city and amongst them Mahatma Jyotibha Phule Market also popularly known as the Crawford market , the Victoria Terminus, Global Vipassana Pagoda which has no pillars and can hold 8ooo meditators inside it, then there is the Sanyas Ashram , the gothic architecture of the different Roman Catholic churches built all over the city, the Jahangir art gallery, Prince of Wales Museum, Gateway of India, Marine Drive, Malabar hill, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mani bhavan, Siddhiinayak temple, haji Ali shrine and Mahalakshmi temple. Juhu Beach steals away the heart and finally the RBI museum.

It is well connected by all the three prominent modes of transport. Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport and Domestic terminal hosts a fleet of aeroplanes flying interstate, intra state as well as outbound crossing international boundaries. Mumbai has two set of railway terminal as well one is the Shivaji terminus and the other being the Mumbai Central. Roads are accessible with the help of the state run bus services and are frequent enough to get them; it’s only difficult when it’s the monsoons. Mumbai bus services carry 5.5 million of passengers daily as per a survey of 2008.  The first line of the metro was made open for public use on June 2014 and first of its kind in the country Mumbai is the first state to have mono rail which started plying from February 2014 in the city. The famous double decker bus operates and is still functional only in Mumbai and bus services of BEST is known country wide. The sea also serves as a major source of transport and has an extensive network of docks and harbours. Mumbai is also the headquarter for the Western Naval Command which is of prime importance to the Indian Navy.

Mumbai is the largest city of India and is also the financial seat for the country. Mumbai alone generates a GDP of 6.16% and hence rightly been named as the economic hub of the country. The BSE that is the Bombay Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in Asia. It is the third most expensive city in the world after Paris and ranks as the fastest city in the country for the spring of business.

Premier institutions like the IIT Bombay and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and also the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre is the home I the heart of the city besides there is JJ School of Art which is the oldest art school of Mumbai and also the Government Law College being the oldest law college of the nation.

This city is the birth place for forming the Indian National congress which is commonly known as the Congress Party. The first party meeting was held in Mumbai in the year 1885.In the Indian election Mumbai is represented by six constituencies primarily from North, North West, North East, Northern Central, South and the Southern Central.