'Because of its colonial past you can see some great examples of classical revival architecture in the tradition that was followed in Britain and Europe at the turn of the twentieth century.'

Mumbai (formerly Bombay) began as a conglomerate of seven small, marshy islands and grew into the vast, overcrowded megalopolis we see today. Like a magnet, the city draws thousands of hopeful migrants seeking their fortune - as it has done over the past three centuries. Its unique position as India's film city - Mumbai is to the Indian cinema what Hollywood is to world cinema - nurtures many a rags-to-riches dream.

Also the finance capital of the country Mumbai has India's biggest and busiest stock exchange and the city is home to representatives of the largest business houses.

The city's skyline comprises a melange of intriguing silhouettes - high-rises, textiles mill chimney stacks, Gothic, Neo-classical and Art Deco masterpieces, juxtaposed with contours of temple Shikharas, church spires and mosque minarets. Luxury homes tower over stretches of appalling shanties of the homeless.

Old and new jostle for your attention against a backdrop of massed and ceaselessly moving humanity. Every structure in the richly textured urbanscape bears silent testimony not only to the city's fascinating and chequered history but also to its vibrant cosmopolitan present. Most people maintain Mumbai is the only truly metropolitan city of India.

Vibrant, pulsating Mumbai - the city that never sleeps - offers the visitor a plethora of intriguing sights and titillating sounds, choice entertainment and diverse cuisine, fascinating glimpses into the colourful panorama that is India.

The islands of Mumbai had been occupied by simple fisher folk for several centuries before the pre-Christian era. Later, development of important townships and ports took place on the mainland, surrounding the islands. A tangible, physical transformation of the archipelago began after the Portuguese take-over from the Muslim rulers of Gujarat in 1534.

In the 1660s, the islands were gifted by the Portugese to the ruling English monarch as part of his marriage dower. The British East India Company, which leased the islands from the Crown, foresaw the potential of the protected harbour located on the eastern seaboard of the largest of the seven islands. This can be seen today from Apollo Bunder near the Gateway of India. The beautiful natural bay on the west was named Marine Drive in the early 1940s.

Beginning with one island as fortified town and trading centre, the company progressively undertook extensive reclamation projects over the following decades to weld the seven islands into one large land mass. A severe plague epidemic in the 1890s resulted in many improvements to the city. 

Towards the end of 19th century, Mumbai became the urbs prima in indis, the most important commercial, financial, trading and industrial centre and port on the sub-continent. This is the status it enjoys even today. Then, with a number of industries set up in and around, the pressure on land grew further and building activity reached its peak in the 1930s, when all available plots of land in the city were built over.

It was over-crowded but people came from all over the country continued to pour in, attracted by its potential and enterprise. When independence came in 1947, refugees Pakistan further added to the population and Mumbai grew upwards (in the form of high-rises) and outwards too, expanding northwards into the mainland.

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