 Mumbai
is the capital of the state of Maharashtra in western
India. It's an exhilarating city, fuelled by entrepreneurial
energy, determination and dreams. Mumbai is the finance
capital of the nation, the industrial hub of everything
from textiles to petrochemicals, and it's responsible
for half the country's foreign trade. To many visitors,
Mumbai is the glamour of Bollywood cinema, cricket on
the maidans on weekends, bhelpuri on the beach at Chowpatty
and red double-decker buses. While it boasts an impressive
Victoria townscape, a sculptured island cave temple
and a national park that's roamed by wild tigers, the
city's formal attractions pale in comparison to the
nonstop theater of its streets. Sixteen million people
from all over India are wedged into Mumbai and after
a short stroll you will feel like you have rubbed shoulders
with and bumped into every single one of them. The size
of the population means the city has enough social problems
to last a lifetime, but its spirit is irrepressible
and it has personality by the bucket load. As the cultural
bridgehead between east and west, whatever happens in
the rest of India tends to happens first in Mumbai,
and it usually happens with the maximum amount of swank
and noise. Most visitors to India gear themselves up
to confront poverty, but it's the extravagant display
of wealth in Mumbai that seem shocking. In many parts
of the city flash cars and mobile phones are as common
as street kids or beggars, and Mumbai loves to claim
it has more millionaires than Manhattan. Flush with
money, the city has an established social elite and
an entertainment hungry middle class, which mean diversions
are never in short supply. Mumbai lives and breathes
cinema, enjoy a rollicking nightlife, boasts the best
seafood restaurants in South Asia and has more shops
and bazaars than you could ever hope to explore.
History
 The
seven islands that now form Mumbai were first home to
the Koli fisher folk, whose shanties still occupy parts
of the city shoreline today. The island were ruled by
a succession of Hindu dynasties, invaded by Muslim in
the 14th century and then ceded to Portugal by the Sultan
of Gujarat in 1534. The Portuguese did little to develop
them before the major island of the group was included
in Catherine of Braganza's dowry when she married England's
Charles II in 1661. The British Government took possession
of all seven islands in 1665 but leased them three years
later to the East India Company for a meagre annual
rent. Bombay soon develop as a trading port, thanks
to its fine harbour and because merchants were attracted
from other parts of India by the British promise of
religious freedom and land grants. Bombay's fort was
built in 1720s, and land reclamation projects soon began
the century-long process of joining the seven islands
into a single land mass. Although Bombay grew steadily
during the 18th century, it remained isolated from its
hinterland until the British defeated the Marathas and
annexed substantial portions of Western India in 1818.
Growth was spurred by the arrival of steam ships and
the construction of the first railway in Asia from Bombay
to Thane in 1853. Bombay played a formative role in
the struggle for Independence, hosting the first Indian
National Congress in 1885 and the launched of the 'Quit
India' campaign in 1942. After Independence the city
became capital of the Bombay Presidency, but this was
divided on linguistic grounds into Maharashtra and gujarat
in 1960. Since then Bombay was made the capital of Maharashtra,
the city of Bombay was officially renamed Mumbai in
1996.
Climate
Mumbai is warm and humid year round, and temperatures
are stable thanks to the moderating influence of the
sea. There are three distinct seasons: summer, monsoon
and what is quaintly referred to as winter. Summer lasts
from March to mid-June and is characterized by high
temperatures, sticky humidity and short tempers. There's
a slight drop in temperature when the monsoon arrives
from the south in mid-June and proceeds to dump 2000mm
of rain on the city over next three months. It generally
rains everyday, during the monsoon, but it certainly
doesn't rain all the time. There's then a short transition
to winter, which begins in earnest in mid-October and
lasts until late February. Winter means an average 2°C
drop in temperature, clear skies and fractionally lower
humidity -anywhere else in the world.
Best Time to Visit Mumbai: September
to April.
Main Languages: Marathi, Hindi, English
Mumbai Airport : Chhatrapati Shivaji
International Airport |
