Colaba
Colaba
Southern most peninsula is known as Colaba. Colaba is the gateway of Mumbai where a majority of the tourists stay. It is where most travelers gravitate to as it has a good range of hotels and restaurants and two of the city’s best landmarks, the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel. The archway is built from honey-colored basalt in a style derived from Gujarati architecture of the sixteenth century. In the days of the steam liner, the Gateway was for many visitors their first and last sight of India but today it acts purely as a colorful tourist stop, and attracts hawkers, snake charmers, and beggars. The neighboring Taj Mahal Hotel was built in 1902 by JN Tata, after he was allegedly refused entry to one of the city’s European hotels on account of being ‘a native’. Colaba Causeway is at the heart of tourist activity. The street is lined with shops selling bolts of material, ready made garments, provisions and hardware.
