Description of the attraction
The world famous Prince of Wales Museum is located in the ancient city of Mumbai (Bombay), in its southern part, right next to another landmark of this city - the Gateway to India. The museum was built on the initiative and at the expense of the honorary citizens of Mumbai in honor of the Prince of Wales, the future British King George V, who laid the foundation stone of the building in 1905. A little more than 1 hectare of land called "Crescent Site" was allocated for its construction, and George Wittet was chosen as the chief architect, who later became famous for another successful project - the already mentioned Gateway to India. The construction of this grandiose museum was completed in 1915. But during the First World War, the building was used as a children's center and a military hospital, and only in 1922 a full-fledged museum was opened.
It is a three-storey basalt building of rectangular shape, made in the Indo-Saracen style. Its roof is decorated with a large dome, finished with white and blue tiles, which serves as a kind of additional floor. This dome, along with balconies and tiled floors, add to the building's signature Mughal features.
In the early 2000s, the museum was renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in honor of the founder of the Maratha Empire, Shivaji.
The museum collection is very large and has about 50 thousand exhibits collected not only in India, but also around the world. It is divided into three main sections: art, archeology and natural history, and, since 2008, several exhibitions have been added dedicated to God Krishna, the textile industry, traditional Indian costumes, and painting miniatures.
Today, the museum is under the care of the government, as well as the Bombay Municipal Corporation, which annually provide it with grants for various programs.
