Mount Mary Church, Bandra : "The Mount Mary Church is located in Bandra. It is also alternately referred to as The Basilicca of Our Lady Of The Mount. The Church overlooks the Arabian sea. It is located on a hillock 80 metres above the sea level. Devotees associate tremedous power to Mother Mary of this Church."
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I was thoroughly enjoying this trip and with each destination it was getting better. Mumbai was offering me more than I expected. I was amazed with the pace of this metropolitan city. My camera was loaded with photographs and still had more to capture. Though my body showed signs of tiredness, my heart longed for more. The next destination of my itinerary was the Flora Fountain, Mumbai, an Indian heritage building, which is a symbol of beauty and prosperity. I reached the Flora Fountain in the evening and felt the whole atmosphere simply awesome with the statue illuminated. As usual the first thing I did was to take out my camera and took back-to-back snapshots of this lovely structure. I even posed myself by taking help from fellow tourists. History says that the structure got its name Flora from the Goddess of Flowers in Roman culture. Though it was renamed in 1960 as Hutatma Chowk, it is still widely known as Flora Fountain. It was built in 1864 at a whopping cost of Rs.47000, which was quite a big amount at that point of time. The Flora Fountain is not only a tourist hub, but also shares borderline with major financial and historical monuments such as the Bombay Stock Exchange and Gateway of India. It’s a mini shopping paradise with an array of local items and cuisines available for tourists. I started conversation with a local guide to learn more about the Flora Fountain. He told me that the fountain was constructed with Portland Stone, which glows in the night. He added that the fountain can be visited at all times and the best time of the year is between March and September. I was delighted to experience the well-lit monument with lush-green gardens supported by a fountain light show, which was a lifetime experience. There were people of all age groups and I realized why they flocked in hundreds to this place to get relieved from their daily chaos and stress. Visiting the Flora Fountain, Mumbai was a great decision and what more you can expect from the place, which gave me joy, peace and a taste of history.
Offshore to the Arabian Sea lies the huge historical and architectural built, which is called Gateway of India, Mumbai. In the vicinity, it has the heritage of the Taj and the entrance to Elephanta Island through the launch, which departs from this place. It is one of the major stops for tourists and photographers. In the past, the place was supposed to be the rendezvous for the governors and viceroys to land in India. Today it serves as a great ‘monumental memento’ to the local and the people from outside. At the time of British rule, it used to be the hallmark of “power and majesty” of the whole British Empire. There were statues of great Legends. One was of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on the opposite of the Gateway, which symbolized his ‘Pride and courage” of Maratha and the other was of Swami Vivekananda. Both of them were the idol of bravery and courage at their own time and till now. The Gateway consisted of five jetties. One jetty was the exposure to Atomic Research Center, second and the third jetties were used as ferry operations for commercial purpose, fourth was closed and the fifth one was exposed to the Royal Bombay Yacht Club. After the severe Mumbai attack in 2008, the jetties were supposed to be closed and replaced by the new one. It is the hub of locals, street vendors, tourists and photographers. It could host more than 2000 people. After a severe terror attack in the year 2003 and 2008 some areas were restricted for the public to move.
There was recently a stunning and dazzling lighting makeover of this world-recognized heritage with LED system of Phillips, which imparted a palette of million colors to brighten the place and create brilliant lighting shows. We were fortunate enough to get the chance of seeing the shows and it was simply an experience to behold. The day was near to end and we were quite exhausted with the whole day expedition of Mumbai. Since our hotel was about 2 km away from the Gateway of India, Mumbai, we were able to reach our resting place in a short time. Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai : The Nehru Science Centre is located in Worli Mumbai. It has many scientific exhibits and is open to public visit. People who have keen interest in science should definitely visit the Nehru Science Centre. It is a common location for school visits. It is named after late Jawaharlal Nehru, the former Prime Minister of India.
Reaching the Roman Catholic Church, probably known as the Holy Cross Church, Mumbai, through the extensive crowded local train was also a part of this memorable journey. Kurla station was really tough to cross due to the Mumbai local crowd all over, but we managed some how to reach one of the oldest holy Churches, built during the era of Portuguese in 1588. According to history, St. Francis Xavier wrote a requesting letter to King Sebestian of Portugal for a land near Kurla to build a church and a house. The church consisted of many assisted priests, who belonged to the Parish Team, in its organization. The organization comprised of Altar Server’s Ministry to involve children in the Church services. It also comprised of Family Cell, Legion of Mary, Hope and Life Movement, Eucharistic Ministers, Lector’s Ministry, Parish Youth Group, Civic and Political Cell, Disaster Management, and many more. There were so many divisions and departments, but with a same purpose of serving humanity and mankind with divine love. The purpose was to deliver the message of peace and oneness. We also visited the burial ground and paid homage to the dead, so that their soul rest in peace. Since the Church was very old and was built in the mid of the 16th century, a rebuild of the church was done many years ago. There were many guidelines declared for the New Parishioner, Marriages and Burials to practice the same with sincerity. The notice board for the marriage declared prior information of arranging marriage should be given before four to six months of marriage to get the preparations done accordingly. The fees, venue and date were put on the board. There were also the list of SCC Animators and Coordinators with the name and their allotted areas.
The illustration of the Holy Cross Church, Mumbai was huge and it depicted an atmosphere of divine peace, and there was a pin-drop silence. The church is the heritage and landmark of Mumbai with its own identification and values to serve the mankind. With some holy pictures in our mind we moved on, back to the Gateway of India. It was at the Gateway of India from where the journey to Elephanta Island, Mumbai started. At the entrance of the Gateway we collected the tickets to the Island and it took around one hour to reach the destination of the island. The rhythm of the waves could be easily heard, and the cool breeze was blowing and surpassing out body with a feeling of peace and illumination. It was a complete blissful voyage of one hour with the college friends. It was real time to create wonderful memories, which would be relished till the last breath. As we were sailing in a deluxe launch with the tickets of the upper deck, the infinite Arabian Sea could be thoroughly seen. There was a pause for the contemporary commercial part of Mumbai and a start to an era when art and carving out expansive statues is believed as a fine blessing. The best way to explore and know everything about Elephanta caves is through a guide book, which could be easily purchased from the vendors outside the caves and I did the same instead of hiring an expensive human guide. We caught the small train that took us to the entrance from the dockside. It was astounding to climb steep 120 steps towards the caves, but we easily managed to do so. As the caves are regarded as Lord Shiva’s religious place, many aged tourists could be seen. The caves are highly rich in the fine carvings of the ancestors of the early era. The historical sculptures and art are really outstanding. We got up to the Cannon Hill to visit the old cannons situated on the top of the hillock. After covering the major parts, we came out to have some resting hour and ate wild berries, which were the specialties of that place. We sipped tea and coffee with some light snacks and glimpses of the picturesque and endless sea. It was finally a true historic expedition to Elephanta Island, Mumbai, which was accomplished with a deep breath and excellent reminiscence. We took our steps back to Mumbai to visit one of the oldest churches located in Kurla, so we caught a local train, which is the fastest mode of transport to reach the church.
Prince Of Wales Museum, Mumbai : You may be familiar with the Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangralaya but I still prefer calling it the Prince of Wales Museum which surely is one place worth visiting in Mumbai. The building architecture is Indo-Saracenic style and was built to commemorate the visit of Prince of Wales to Bombay.
After reaching the Mumbai station, we planned to travel to Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai as per our schedule and hired a private cab, which took us to our destiny. The gallery is located in the Kala Ghoda region of south Mumbai and it has a very authentic entrance. We entered the gallery in the afternoon as it would be closed by 7 pm; therefore it was our first choice to visit it. The art gallery itself imparted its artistic history and the era of art in the early age of history. The moment we arrived at the gallery, it spread a welcoming gesture in the air. As per the information written on the royal wall of the gallery, it was established and inaugurated on the 21st of January in 1952 by the formal chief minister of Maharashtra, Mr. B.G. Kher. The art gallery consisted of three exhibition halls, two galleries named as Hirji Jehangir Gallery and Terrace Art Gallery respectively with an auditorium hall connected to it. The phenomenal paintings of the renowned artists were simply mind-blowing and highly appreciable. Splendid paintings of the famous celebrity artists such as Ganesh Jadhav, Rabaaka Nikam, Burhan Nagarwala, Bina Om Rajput, et al were displayed with their own entities and identifications. The halls have all the modern amenities and suitable equipment for the exhibitions. The Terrace gallery was meant for photography displays and visual arts. The gallery also sponsors an annual Monsoon Art Show to reveal the phenomenal paintings and artworks of the artists with proven merit. The gallery had organized many art courses to appreciate the artworks of the uplifting artists to inspire them. But due to shortage of space the unraveling artists had to wait for a long time to get a place to exhibit their paintings. The displays were changed every week to capture different artworks. They disclosed the depth of the thoughts and imagination of the artists. The journey to the art world in the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai came to an end with the beginning of another journey towards an island near Mumbai Harbor, which is famous for its cave temples and historical sculptures.
Being a student, 23 years of age, I have developed a lot of interest in traveling. I love adventure and never leave an opportunity to travel during weekends to nearby places. This time I had an opportunity to visit Mumbai. I started my train travel from Chennai (MAS) to Mumbai (CSTM) by Mumbai Express. I was so excited because this was my last trip with my college and college friends, and after that we were supposed to get busy in our own career. I was already twenty minutes late by the schedule and was also worried. Since Chennai Central is one of the busiest stations in India, we got struck with the crowd. After taking our allotted seats in the three-tier AC and arranging our baggage, we started chattering about the ultra modern city and its local destinations. Landing on a different station is always my passion. Since the next junction was Renigunta Junction, which was supposed to arrive at 2:30 pm, I went to the main door of the train to catch up with the greenery outside. The farm fields and little ponds were amazing. As the train took the turning, all the coaches could be seen easily moving together and imparting the sense of unity. Renigunta came and we landed on the station looking for some magazines in the stall. Being a junction, the train was halted for more than five minutes and we bought tea and sipped our tea gossiping about girls passing by.
The train whistled and we jumped into the train without delay waiting for the next junction to arrive. After having our tickets checked by the authority, we took our seats waiting for the hawkers to come up with South Indian snacks. Stations like Koduru, Kamalapuram, Maddanuru, and Gooty were small and so the train halted for a minute. We were impatient for the next day to reach Mumbai. The evening in the train was relaxing with magazines. In the night, the sky was covered with the blanket of twinkling stars, as I peeped outside the main door. Next day morning, I woke up to the call of tea sellers and was astonished to see Pune Junction, which was so developed with all the amenities for the passengers. We landed there too, to look for the hot breakfast. And finally after a few hours the time came when my train travel from Chennai (MAS) to Mumbai (CSTM) by Mumbai Express came to an end. Just for the record, I am a self-acclaimed ardent mountaineer, who has that special dream to scale the mighty Mt Everest some time in future. Having trekked small hills and mountaintops in and around my hometown in Chennai, I somehow have satisfied my passion of hiking. Here, I would like to share my favourite trails in India. Some of them are still on my to-do list! 1. Kumara Parvatha Trek in Karnataka It was one of my first treks; hence, this one is special! Also known as, Pushpagiri, the Kumara Parvatha trek is located on the backdrop of an ancient shrine called Kukke Subramanya. Best time to trek here is during October to February. 2. Pindari Glacier Trek in Kumaon Located in Kumaon region, the Pindari Glacier is easily reachable, though it should be avoided during monsoons. The trek is not too complicated, hence, novice trekkers can try going up the Pindari glacier. 3. Dodital Trek in Uttarakhand The magnificent state has been blessed with nature’s eternal beauty in the form of small hills and mountains. Of which, Dodital is a highly popular tourist attraction. The trek is not too difficult and the summer season serves to be the best to enjoy the trail. 4. Himachal’s Churdhar Peak There is no denial that Himachal Pradesh is bestowed by nature largely. The best example is Churdhar Peak, which is also a sanctuary of the alpine regions surrounded by dense temperate forests. 5. Indrahar Pass Trek of Himachal Considered a difficult trek, Indrahar Pass in Himachal has its own beauty and an eye-pleasing appeal. Climbing is tough but worth it as the view from top is mesmerizing. 6. Markha Valley Trek in Ladakh Markha Valley is one of the best treks in India. This is because apart from the beauty of it, trekkers have to follow the trail along the Markha River that flows through “Little Tibet.” I had been here last winter, and must admit that Markha valley is truly an enchanting place to be! Some of these are yet to be explored to the fullest. There are many more trails across India, waiting to be tamed.
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About Author.
Hello, I am Ayushi Manroa. I love travelling and have also dabbled in photography. Being a student, I mostly end up back-packing! I started this blog to record my travelogues about the amazing places that I have been to. Be it frolicking in Goa, taking a dip in the Ganges, trekking in Coorg or hitching a ride up the Western Ghats, it is all listed here along with some of my best shots. Hope you like it. Happy reading!
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