The Gateway of India is Mumbai's most famous monument. This is the starting point for most tourists who want to explore the city. It was built as a triumphal arch to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay prior to the Durbar in Delhi in 1911, complete with four turrets and intricate latticework carved into the yellow basalt stone.
The foundation stone was laid on March 31, 1911 by the Governor of Bombay Sir George Sydenham Clarke, with George Wittet’s final design sanctioned in August 1914. Between 1915 and 1919 work proceeded on reclamations at Apollo Bundar for the land on which the gateway and the new sea wall would be built. The foundations were completed in 1920, and construction was finished in 1924. The Gateway was opened on December 4, 1924 by the Viceroy, the Earl of Reading. |