20 Interesting Facts About Mumbai

Mumbai is India’s financial hub. It is one destination that everyone wants to visit at some point. There are plenty of hotels in Mumbai to choose from. Choose one of the Mumbai hotels that offer easy access to all the landmarks. There are a lot of tourist places in Mumbai you can visit. Meanwhile, here are 20 interesting facts about the city you will enjoy reading about:

  1. Mumbai is a conglomeration of seven islands gifted as dowry to Catherine of Braganza, married to Charles II in the 17th century.
  2. The seven original islands were Worli, Parel, Mahim, Mazagaon, Old Woman’s Island or Little Colaba, Colaba and Isle of Bombay.
  3. Mumbai’s ‘dabbawalla’ system of delivering lunches to offices has been the subject of many a study conducted by eminent B-schools such as Harvard Business School and IIMs.
  4. Mumbai’s old name Bombay gets its name from the Portuguese words, ‘Bom Bahia’ or ‘the good bay’. Mumbai is said to get its name from the Mumbadevi temple.
  5. Mumbai is home to Bollywood, the film industry predominantly Hindi. The homes of superstars like Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan are considered tourist places in Mumbai.
  6. Marine Drive aka Queen’s Necklace is home to some of the best hotels in Mumbai. This is one of the tourist places in Mumbai not to be missed.
  7. Over 7.5 million people travel in more than 2,300 local trains everyday.
  8. Mumbai’s local train system is among the oldest in Asia, covering over 450 km today.
  9. Mumbai is home to one of the most expensive global properties Antilia, the mansion of industrialist Mukesh Ambani.
  10. The first test match between India and England in 1933 was held at the Bombay Gymkhana.
  11. During Ganesh Chaturthi, Mumbai has many Ganpati pandals, including the historic Lalbaughcha Raja pandal, Keshavji Naik Chawl Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav, among others.
  12. The iconic sea link, called Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link, is a great feat of engineering.
  13. Did you know that the famed Jungle Book creator Rudyard Kipling was born in Mumbai in 1865?
  14. If you are staying in one of the Mumbai hotels, you can ask them to organise a Kala Ghoda art experience. Mumbai is home to Kala Ghoda, the arts neighbourhood, home to many galleries.
  15. Kala Ghoda is literally ‘black horse’ refers to a statue of King Edward VII on a horse. The statue was removed from the neighbourhood in 1965
  16. A great landmark of Mumbai is the Mahalaxmi Racecourse, over a century old, and is one of the most popular tourists places in Mumbai.
  17. A cricket lover should definitely make a trip to Shivaji Park, cradle of Mumbai cricket, where Sachin Tendulkar honed his skills.
  18. The trademark street food of Mumbai is the vada pav, which is said to have originated to cater to the mill labourers.
  19. Mumbai’s economy in the 20th century was largely fed by textile mills, over 100 in number.
  20. The Bombay Stock Exchange or BSE (in Dalal Street) is considered one of the oldest trading centres in India, dating back to 1850.

 

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