India Guide
Mumbai
The Gateway of India
Commemorating the 1911 visit of King George V and Queen Mary, India's own honey-coloured Arc de Triomphe, the Gateway of India, was built in 1924 by George Wittet. Blending indigenous Gujarati motifs with high Victorian pomp, it was originally envisaged as a ceremonial disembarkation point for passengers alighting from the P&O steamers, but – ironically – is more often remembered as the place the British chose to stage their final departure from the country. On February 28, 1948, the last troops remaining on Indian soil slow-marched under the arch to board the ship home. Nowadays, the only boats bobbing at its stone staircase ferry tourists across to Elephanta.
On evenings and weekends, crowds gather in the piazza fronting the arch to feed the pigeons, be snapped by the posses of strolling photographers, ride silver horse-drawn gaddis around the Taj, or just to people-watch.