Mumbai, once known as Bombay, is India's financial center and most important city on it's west coast.
Mumbai is built around a good natural harbor. The peninsula on which the city is built was once seven islands that were joined together, into a peninsula, by land reclamation.
The opening of the Suez Canal, in 1869, opened a much more direct route to India from the west, and made Mumbai (then Bombay) into a very important port.
In my geology theory, described in an abbreviated version, "Geology Theory With Satellite Imagery And Maps", March 2024, we saw that there is a long undersea ridge on the floor of the Indian Ocean. The ridge runs nearly directly north-south and is caused by magma emerging from below. It is what is described in the theory as a longitudinal line of emergence.
Mumbai is located right where the line of the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge meets the west coast of India. It is the magma emergence from below that parts the continental land mass of India and produces the good natural harbor around which Mumbai is built. Two images from Google Earth.
The red dashes show the undersea ridge and Mumbai is where it meets the west coast of India.
The red line is the inlet that is produced by the line of magma emergence and the blue line to the left is central Mumbai.
Let's begin our visit to Mumbai with the magnificent sight of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, with it's new tower in the background, and the Gateway of India. The first six images are from Google Street View.
This is the hotel with the tower addition in the background.
This is the adjacent Gateway of India.
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https://www.google.com/maps/@18.9226221,72.8344506,2a,75y,147.04h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s-JZOp08XFmtTTSvmBikw3Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D-JZOp08XFmtTTSvmBikw3Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D148.47997%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656Nearby are some of the best-known buildings of Mumbai. This is the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. This seems to be as far south as the trains go on the peninsula on which Mumbai is built. This is one of the most famous train stations in the world, and is sometimes referred to by English-speakers as Victoria Terminus. How many train stations look like a palace? Six images from Google Street View.
Across the street from the train station is the building of the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai. It is actually called Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. This could be thought of as the city hall of Mumbai. The train station and city hall both look like palaces. Two images from Google Street View.
There is a famous market nearby, the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, sometimes referred to be English-speakers as the Crawford Market. Four images from Google Street View.
There is a college near the train station, with an adjoining high school, that is known for it's architecture, St. Xavier's College. Three images from Google Street View.
Not far away is the area around Chowpatty Beach. The beach faces the ocean to the west so that one can watch the sun set in the evening. Four images from Google Street View.
Possibly the best-known cafe in the world is the Cafe Leopold. We in Niagara Falls NY would really like to have one here.
The following area is in central Mumbai. The first eleven images are from Google Street View.
