The City of Dreams-Night Mode

Day dreaming is great; No doubt about about that. But when it comes to dreams with interesting plots, nothing can be sweeter than the wish that your heart makes at night.

Attempt at a life changing quote:

Hehe….

In my last post, I took ye folks on a tour of South Bombay in broad daylight, so now, Imma take ya through the city of dreams as the sun goes down….

Sweet dreams:)

This is the Mumbai University clock tower all lit up at night. This one was quite a chance discovery that I had while speeding past it in a car but the lighting was so beautiful that I had to turn the car back and stop to take a picture:) I love how a part of the red board has come in the bottom corner of the picture. The words in the Marathi language simply say ‘Mumbai University’. The tower gives me major Hogwarts and Big Ben vibes which isn’t surprising as the University is modelled on the University of London as it was established by the British in 1857. Well, if the term ‘Old is Gold’ isn’t still relevant metaphorically, the lighting on the tower sure drives the point home, hehe….

South Bombay has a huge treasury of British architecture and the Flora Fountain pictured above is an excellent example. Before I dive into a wee bit of history, Imma just say that the Flora Fountain is the shorter of the two structures. With that in mind, Imma babble that the Flora Fountain was built in 1864. So, this area of South Bombay is actually called Fort. That is because there used to be an actual fort that was built by the British East India Company between 1686 and 1743 and all this effort went to nought in 1860 when the fort was demolished on the orders of the then Governor of Bombay in a bid to improve civic sanitation. The Flora Fountain came up around the same time as the demolition. The fountain has a statue of the Goddess of Plenty on top followed by some very intricate carvings that are absolutely beautiful:) Now, the other statue in the picture is a memorial built in 1960 for the citizens who lost their lives during the rather violent formation of the state of Maharashtra. The memorial is actually a separate square which is known as ‘Hutatma Chowk’. ‘Hutatma’ means Martyr and the statue of the man with a torch is a symbol of power to commemorate all the patriotic martyrs.

This is the Churchgate Station, shining in red amidst a dash of surprise greenery:) I got this picture through the railing of a park and I love the effect that the plants produce. Churchgate Station traces its nomenclature to the Fort that I mentioned while talking about the Flora Fountain above. So back when the Fort was still standing, it had three gates, namely the Apollo Gate, Church Gate and the Bazaar Gate. A decade after the demolition of the fort, a railway station came up at the place where the Church Gate of the Fort formerly stood and hence it got its name, the Church Gate Station which is usually spelt as Churchgate by the locals cause apparently the space between the two words was too laborious to use while writing….Humans….hehehehehe.

Moving on, here’s one of the most famous stations in India; the Victoria Terminus(formerly) or the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. This station can unarguably be called the symbol of Mumbai and is one of the most iconic monuments in the country. Another beautiful piece of work from British India, building work of the station started in 1878 and it took nearly a full decade to finish. It was named after Queen Victoria to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of her reign and the station actually had a stone statue of the Queen which is currently missing under mysterious circumstances. The statue that is currently on the dome is that of the Goddess Progress and many Bollywood movies show that poor statue being broken to pieces. So much that I actually thought it had been broken but here it is, nicely decked in blue. The station is now called the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus after Shivaji, the Emperor of Maharashtra. However, a lot of locals still refer to the station as ‘V.T Station’ which is short for Victoria Terminus. I love the colourful lighting that the station incorporates and it is a treat to watch every single time.

Here we have the building touted to be the tallest residential skyscraper in India. The Palais Royale, as it’s called, will stand at 320 m height on completion. Mumbai is home to a lot of India’s tallest buildings. All these skyscrapers are built facing the sea in an area called Worli. Spotting the Palais Royale was quite a task owing to the number of skyscrapers but I was lucky to get a picture!

Another shot of the skyscrapers as seen from the Eastern Freeway in Mumbai:)

Mumbai isn’t the same without its glittering skyline. This picture is taken at a sea-face called Dadar Chowpatti. The place is like a promenade and it’s rather refreshing to simply stroll along the sea with a view like this. The skyline shoes some of the buildings in Worli, the area of skyscrapers, as well as some bridges in the same area.

This is the second half of the skyline that shows the bridges. The most prominent bridge seen in the skyline here is the Sea-Link. Half of the bridge is lit up in red and the other half is decorated with the disco flashlights. The effect of the flashlights falling into the sea is absolutely beautiful….Here’s a video for ya:)

The Dadar Chowpatti has a rather rocky sea face and one has to be a little careful with the stray rocks. The promenade also has a lot of shops selling picture frames and trinkets and is a nice spot for a family stroll.

This is a church that I came across while driving across the city. I love the Disney castle vibes that it gives and it’s position at the top of a hillock really completes the enchanted look:)

And now, it’s time to wake up….

hehe:)

And that is a wrap!

Until next time,

Au revoir:)

 

 

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