George Wittet designed this Indo- Saracenic style building, which houses the Prince of Wales Museum. It also houses a priceless collection of art, sculpture, a fine collection of miniature paintings and much more. Amid the hustle and bustle of Mumbai stand some stately buildings, remnants of the British Raj. Among them is the Prince of Wales Museum, named after Prince George (Later George V) who visited India in 1905 and laid the foundation stone of the building. Through the arch the Prince made his royal entrance to India as King George V for the Delhi Darbar in 1911. This four-tiered goliath houses a priceless collection of over 2000 miniature paintings from various stylistic schools in India. Among other artifacts feature a sizeable number of relics of the Indus Valley Civilisation and instances of Tibetan and Nepalese art.

This building was completed in 1914 and converted to a military hospital during World War I. Finally it was opened in 1923 by Lady Lloyd, the wife of then governor, Sir George Lloyd. The facing is done in yellow and blue stones quarried from the Mumbai region. The dome is modeled after the Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur - Karnataka. It incorporates a variety of details from different Indian styles; Saracenic arches with Muslim jalis as fillers, semi-open verandahs and Rajput jharokhas.

The structure forms a long rectangle of three storeys, raised in the centre to accommodate the entrance porch. Above the central arched entrance rises a huge dome, tiled in white and blue flecks, supported on a lotus-petal base.

There's a lot to see in the Museum. It’s a disservice if one rushes to see it all in one go. To walk around the key gallery is like experiencing 5,000 years of Indian art in a capsule. The plan of the Museum is simple, with a central hall from which the staircase leads to the two upper floors with galleries branching out on the right and left. An extension on the right-hand side of the main building houses the natural history section. The second floor houses the Indian miniature painting gallery-the pride of the museum, and next to it is galleries of decorative art and, to the left of the central well of the staircase, the gallery of Tibetan and Nepali art. Above, on the second floor are the European painting, armoury and textile galleries. An excellent collection of Indian miniature paintings occupies much of the second floor. Some superb examples of the 19th century Pahari School of painting displayed in the museum are Shiva and Parvati (Kangra), Uma worshipping Shiva. One can see Shiva and Parvati, where Parvati is offering Shiva a garland of skulls. Krishna with the Cows Herds (Garhwal, 18th century) and the work drawing of the holi Festival shows Krishna and his friends throwing colour on Radha and her companions to celebrate the spring festival of Holi. Other paintings of importance on display include Aurangzeb reading the Quran (Pahari, Jammu), the painting of Raja Balwant Deva with his Barber (Jammu, 18th century), one can almost read the barber's thoughts, the painting of the Lady with an Attendant and a Peacock (Pahari, Kangra, 1775) is remarkably beautiful and lyrical work. There are some typical examples of Deccani School of paintings having pale green, mineral-coloured backgrounds with figures placed squarely in the foreground. The collection of paintings from Bundi, of the 18th century, in this gallery deals with the theme of love. This floor also has fine examples of Nepalese and Tibetan art, including a beautiful 12th century Maitreya, with his head surrounded by a halo, slightly inclined. The Tata family, a large industrial house with interests in the sciences and the arts, donated the collection displayed in The Nepal and Tibet gallery. The Buddhist and Hindu images in metal are gilded, and studded with gems. Statuettes of Tara-the Buddhist goddess of compassion, Vajradhara-Lord of the Thunderbolt, and of Lakshmi Narayana are studded with turquoise, ruby and diamond. The tiny Avalokitesvara from Nepal, of the 17th century is the most beautiful one.

The gallery on the second floor presents an extensive collection of art objects donated by Sir Ratan Tata and Sir Dorab Tata and its interesting for those interested in glass, jade and porcelain. The collection includes objects carved in rock crystal, metal ware and lacquered woodwork. There are samples of Indian jewelry and object in silver, enameled jars and hookah stands. Some jade objects and samples of Bidri work are also on display. Fine examples of elaborate ivory work from Japan, like the Cock on a Tree, with feathers of ivory are also seen. There is also a section devoted to porcelain and glassware-much of it from China. It also contains two galleries of largely European oil paintings, including three murky Constables, a Bonnington and a Gainsborough. On entering this area it immediately becomes clear that European art historians dubbed Indian paintings 'miniatures' because they were familiar with. Rather charming are the two portraits of Lady Ratan Tata and Lady Dorabji Tata, which, if viewed from a distance look exactly like portraits of English ladies, complete with gloves and fans, dressed in the fashion of their British rulers. On the mezzanine level, is a small gallery devoted to Indian prehistory and protohistory, consisting largely of primitive tools and ornaments excavated by Sir John Marshall in Mohenjodaro in 1922. On the first floor central balcony of the museum are displayed objects of decorative art in ivory, silver and wood of the late 18th and the 19th centuries. Some paintings have also been displayed in this area, leading the visitor into the picture gallery. The paintings, donated by various patrons, from one of India's best public collections of work, representative of many styles and schools. At the entrance of the gallery, to the left, in the first cubicle, is an illustrated manuscript of the Kalpasutra and the Kalikacharyakatha of western India, dated to the end of the 15th century.

The Society houses spectrum of preserved flora and fauna. At a nominal fee, you can gain access to the old nature books in the Society library. The Natural History Section was added to the museum from the collection of the Bombay Natural History Society. This section has a large selection of Indian birds, a low-tech but educational exhibit on snakes, and stuffed examples of the usual suspects ranging from rhinos to monkeys and lions to deer. The highlight is definitely the freakish 20-foot-long saw fish that must have shocked fishermen when they hauled it up in their nets in the waters off Government House in 1938. All the exhibits are well labeled.

Timings

10.15 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Closed On Mondays. The dome was designed consciously to add to the variety of the skyline and to provide a landmark at ground level.