Exploring the Film City: Mumbai

It is also the financial capital of India and one of the top ten commercial ports in the world. This is an ancient city and exploring its identity as a Film city and financial hub can be a lot of fun.Mumbai is named after Mumbadevi. The city was earlier known as Bombay. The city is a conglomerate of seven islands which are now well connected with each other through land reclamation. These seven islands are Mahim, Worli, Colaba, Mazagaon, Parel, Bombay Island and Old Woman’s Island (Little Colaba). A thousand years earlier these were tiny fishing hamlets. Mumbai has been ruled over time by Askoka, Satavahanas, Rashtrakutas, Delhi Sultanate, Mughals, Portuguese and the British East India Company. Today Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra, one of the states which make up independent India.It is interesting to note that some of these islands came into the possession of the British through the dowry of Catherine of Barganza who married Charles II of England. Other islands were leased to the British for a paltry sum of 10 pounds a year.Anyone visiting Mumbai has to visit the Siddhivinayak Temple in Prabhadevi. This is a 200 years old temple and prominent because Mumbai revers Ganapati. A part of Mumbai life is the black taxi with the yellow top. You can get to all the interesting tourist spots in it. One place worth exploring is the Gateway of India. This was built near the seafront in Apollo Bunder to commemorate the arrival of King George V with Queen Mary in the year 1911.A visit to Mumbai cannot be complete without visiting one of the Film studios and seeing a Hindi or Marathi movie being shot. This has to be followed by a visit to Chowpatty beach where you must try the paani puri and the vada pau. The weather in Mumbai is pleasant and the people are courteous and gentle. The power and glory of Mumbai came into its own with the opening of the Suez Canal. There was a great rush for India from England. The genesis of all the great 5 star hotels in Mumbai lies in the great boarding houses of the nineteenth century. The most prominent Hotels in Mumbai have a sea view and are close to Marine Drive, which is a center of life in this vibrant city.