The Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, later renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya is the main museum in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India. It was founded in the early years of the 20th century by prominent citizens of Bombay, with the help of the government, to commemorate the visit of the then prince of Wales. It is located in the heart of South Mumbai near the Gateway of India. The museum was renamed in the 1990s or early 2000s after Shivaji, the founder of Maratha Empire.
The museum building is built in the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture, incorporating elements of other styles of architecture like the Mughal, Maratha and Jain. The museum building is surrounded by a garden of palm trees and formal flower beds.
The museum houses approximately 50,000 exhibits of ancient Indian history as well as objects from foreign lands, categorized primarily into three sections: Art, Archaeology and Natural History. The museum houses Indus Valley Civilization artefacts, and other relics from ancient India from the time of the Guptas, Mauryas, Chalukyas and Rashtrakuta.
History Of Museum
Prince of Wales Museum realizes the memories of British rule in India.The dome of the museum gives reflection of the combination Indian and English style. The dome has been modelled after the dome of the Gol Gumbaz in Bizapur. Prince of Wales museum was designed by George Witter. The foundation was laid in 1905 by the visiting Prince of Wales. The building was completed in 1914 and during World War Ist It was converted into a Military Hospital The Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai also known as the Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralay. It is located near the Gateway of India on the Crescent Site. The Prince of Wales Museum was built in the twentieth by some Mumbai citizen in honor of the visit of the Prince of the Wales. The Museum was established in the 1909. The architecture of the Prince of Wales Museum is a magnificent structure. It is an interesting combination of Gothic and Moorish styles. Located at M.G. Road, near Gateway of India, in South Bombay, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum has Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. Its façade is made of yellow and blue stones, mined from the Bombay region. It has an assortment of details from different Indian styles like small spherical cupolas on towers, saracenic arches with Muslim jalis as fillers, semi-open verandahs and jharokhas (windows) of Rajputs. Its dome has been designed deliberately, so as to append variety in the skyline and make a landmark at ground level. It houses a unique, rare, and ancient collection of Indian history as well as objects from foreign lands and civilization. Designed in Indo-Saracenic style, the facing is done in Yellow and blue stones. It has also drawn inspiration from many other Indian styles – small bulbous cupolas on towers, Saracenic arches with Muslim jalis as fillers, semi-open verandahs and Rajput jharokhas. Barely a stone’s throw from the Gateway of India is the Prince of Wales Museum, a magnificent, but somewhat strange structure, built in a confluence of Gothic and Moorish styles, and crowned by a sparkling white dome. It boasts a good collection of ancient Indus Valley artifacts dating back to 2000 BC, plus some priceless Tibetan and Nepali Art. There is an entire gallery devoted to Buddhist tankha scrolls and another to Tibetan bronzes, but the chief attraction here is the collection of over 2000 miniature paintings from the various art schools of India. Next to the Museum is the Bombay Natural History Society, which has an extensive collection of local flora and fauna.Prince of Wales Museum is the erstwhile name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya of Mumbai. In 1905, its foundation stone was laid down, by George V – the Prince of Wales himself, who came on a visit to India. The splendid structure was designed by George Wittet, an architect. The construction work was concluded in 1914, but the structure was converted to a military hospital for the period of World War I. The full-fledged museum was inaugurated by Lady Lloyd in 1923.