MUMBAI & THE WEST

India’s western gateway is Mumbai, with a major international airport and harbour. The city’s rise from the dowry of a Portuguese queen to the country’s foremost sea port, commercial center and producer of films has been nothing short of meteoric. Mumbai’s Gothic architecture is embodied in the Gateway of India, Bombay High Court, old Secretariat, Uinversity Buildings and Victoria Terminus. Open spaces in this g lamourous city include Chowpatty Beach, Juhu Beach and Sanjay Gandhi National Park, the latter a fine wildlife park in Borivali.

Bombay is the country’s premier cultural center. Jehangir Art Gallery attracts regular art exhibitioins; Prithvi Theater is well known for its theatrical performances, and the National Centre for Performing Arts periodically hosts Indian and international concerts of music and dance.

The city’s shopping embraces informal fashion and accessories at Colaba Causeway, antiques and clever reproduction of antiques at Chor Bazar, gold and diamond jewellery at Jhaveri Bazar, high fashions at Kemps Corner, Bhulabhai Desai Road and the airconditioned shopping plaza at The Oberoi Towers.

Aurangabad, 400 kms from Bombay is linked by Indian Airlines flights. Spectacular rock-cut caves and cave paintings exists at two nearby places, Ajanta and Ellora. The most notable feature of these cave temples is that entire hillsides were cut away by artisans chisels to produce some of the world’s most sculptures. Ellora’s 34 caves are over 10 centuries old and represent elaborate sculpture of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. The caves at Ajant date back to the 5th Century and contain paintings and sculptures of major events in the life of Buddha.

Goa the most comprehensive beach resort in the country. Goa is approachable from Bombay by air. Goa’s coastline provides endless sun drenched crescents of sand. Vagator, Anjuna, Baga, Calangute and Cadolim stretch out in an unbroken palm fringed line. Other beaches include Miramar and Colva. Parasailing, yatching, windsurfing and deep sea diving are some of the more popular water sports, facilities for which are available. In addition, every sort of accommodation fringe the beaches, from deluxe resorts to budge lodgings.

Inland, 451 years of Portuguese rule has imbued Goa’s town and villages with an unique culture. Whitewashed chapels and churches that dot the landscape are surrounded by sleepy villages and rice fields.

Panjim the capital city, and Margao an important town, have private houses and government buildings dating back to Portuguese times. Old Goa, now deserted, has a collection of Goa’s larges churches: The Cathedral with its Iberian exterior, Bom Jesu which enshrines the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier and the starkly beautiful Convent Saint Monica. Mapusa, a market town, comes alive every Friday with a quaint pavement bazaar.

The most convenient entry point into Gujarat is through the metropolis of Ahmedabad. The city contains some very fine museum, the Calico Museum of textiles being considered among the world’s finest/ Ahmedabad’s walled city is a living testimony to its heritage of crafts as women walk by in dazzling embroidered garments, to flashing ethnic silver jewellery. Traditional Ahmedabad combines mosques of inspired workmanship, wooden Jain Temples, unique stone stepwells and houses with ornately carved wooden balconies and window screens. Modern Ahmedabad, just across the River Sabarmati spanned by four bridges, is a showpiece of cotemporary architecture with designs by Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn and the best known Indian architects.

Ahmedabad is convenient base ofr a number of excursions, Modhera being the best known. 106 kms away, this is one of the very few sun temples in the country. Palitana 215 km away, is a hill top place of pilgrimage for Jains. 863 temples of all sizes crowd the hill which has to be approached by foot. Stone and marble spires with their rich detail of carving make ofr Palitana’s very special appeal.

Portuguese rule in India included the territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, the last two within the state of Gujarat. Diu, is a tiny island off the extreme south of the mainland is even now a secluded beach resort near a colonial town of great charm, with whitewashed churches and tile-roofed villas.

Gujarat’s most popular beach and the state is well endowed with them – is Ahmedpur Mandvi whose chief attraction is the ethnic beach resort. Cottages modeled on rural Gujarati architecture look out onto a secluded beach, one of the state’s chief centers for water sports.

Bhopal, the capital of the state of Madhya Pradesh, has grown around a large lake, the ornamental newer part of the city being roughly opposite the labyrinthine lanes of the old town. Craft notably velvet handbags studded with stones, and lacy silverwork is practiced in narrow alleyways that lead off from domes mosques in the old city.

Bharat Bhavan is a showcase of Indian art, folk, traditions, sculpture and a center for the performing arts as well. Bhimbetka, a few hours drive from Bhopal, is the site for spectacular cave paintings; Udaygiri, another excursion from Bhopal, has notable cave sculptures of religious themes.

Sanchi, is an unmatched repository of Buddhist art and architecture. Located on a secluded hill crowned by a group of stupas and gateways, it occupies a unique position in the history of Buddhism. Its stupas, chaityas, temples, monasteries and gateways are embellished by the most delicate carvings that depict various indicents in the Buddha’s life as well as some of his important teachings. Efficient guide services, an essential part of sightseeing in Sanchi, are available here.

A 90 kms drive from Indore takes one across a narrow gorge, after the horizon widens abruptly, to reveal the deserted city of Mandu. Built as a testament of love by a Muslim ruler for his Hindu queen, Mandu’s air of serenity and spaciousness offsets to perfection its palaces, temple and mosque which lie scattered over the 75 kms of Mandu’s fortified area. Most interesting of all is the imaginative use that has been made of the surroundings. Thus Jahaz Mahal or Ship Palace is actually built in a pond on which is appears to float, and Hindola Mahal or Swing Palaces gives every appearance of living up to its name.

In Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior is the state’s northernmost icty and a convenient entry point. Gwalior’s landmark is its hilltop fort, which contains a fine museum and an ancient temple, among other monuments.

120 kms from Gwalior is the medieval city of Orchha with exquisite palaces and cenotaphs. Built by an 11th century king of the Bundela dynasty, Orchha is now a ghost city containing the remains of what must once have been spectacularly lovely monuments, and which combine Hindu and Muslim architectural traditions.

Shivpuri, atop a plateau, contains two picturesque lakes and a national park that abounds in species of deer and antelope.

Khajuraho, an obscure village, no more than a clearing in the jungle, now captures world attention for its 22 temples built by the rulers of the Chandela dynasty. Each temple, built of stone, is distinguished by carved spires and walls, where the subjects range from aesthetic depictings of major and minor deities and celestial beings to a variety of erotic sculptures.