Founded in 1905 the Prince of Wales museum was built in order to celebrate and memorialize the visit of King George V to India. It is located at Mahatma Gandhi Road, Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai. The architecture of this museum is very attractive and therefore it is recognized as a heritage structure in Mumbai.

In the museum, you get to see rare and an amazing collection comprising of ancient artworks, sculptures, artifacts,terracotta, bronze, Indian miniature paintings, European paintings, excavated artifacts from the Harappan sites, porcelain and ivory from China and Japan.

Many new galleries containing the artworks of Hindu God Krishna, textiles and Indian traditional costumes, were opened after the completion of the renovation project in 2008. At present, the museum has three different parts for Natural history section, Archaeology section and Art section.

 Many exhibitions and lectures are also held inside the museum, which increases the amount of visits by tourists. Every tourists visiting Mumbai from the world around definitely visits this beautiful heritage site to admire the ancients artifacts preserved since the 1900’s.

There are a lot of interesting and lesser known facts about the Prince of Wales museum, it’s history and architecture which are listed below in the blog.

About the history of Prince of Wales Museum

In 1998, the museum was renamed as “The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya”, in honor of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha Empire. The museum was designed by a very well-known and prominent architect, George Wittet.

In the very beginning, during the ‘First World War’, the museum was used as a military hospital and a ‘Children’s Welfare Center’. It was basically built to commemorate the visit of King George V to india, and therefore initially after him.

This monument in the form of a museum was to be elevated on a plot of land known as the Crescent Site, which was granted by the government of Bombay (Mumbai) Presidency to the museum committee. The construction of the building was completed in 1914,but it was inaugurated for the public on 10th January,1922.

About the architecture of Prince of Wales Museum

Awarded the first place for Heritage Building Maintenance by the Indian Heritage Society, this beautifully designed and built museum has a fascinating architecture. The museum is built in the Indo-Saracenic style with Indian pillared hall and arched pavilion.

The main focus of attention is the  impressive Mughal white dome rising above the huge intersecting arches forming a beautiful geometrical pattern. It is designed after the Gol Gumbaz of Bijapur and adds gorgeousness to its appearance. Then there are small jalis for light and wind adding to the magnificence of the building.

George Wittet, the architect expertly integrated the original wooden arched pavilion, as a circular railing on the first floor of the building. The design of the building is an amalgamation of 15th, 16th century Gujarati and Islamic design and English brickwork. There are lavish  green gardens with delightful flower beds and palm trees surrounding the museum.

Some interesting and exciting facts about the museum

•  It has a world-class collection of over 50,000 artifacts, making it one of India’s renowned art and history museum.

• One of the galleries in the museum is dedicated to collectibles from the Mohenjodaro and Harappan civilizations to attract history lovers.

•  Do you wanna know what is a hit with the children? The Natural History Gallery, with its illustrations and animals in actual habitats. It excites them.

• The Prints Gallery section demonstrates Mumbai of another era. The View of Panwell  (today’s Panvel) surrounded by mountains, situated on the river Pan. 

• The coins gallery, has collections from various dynasties – from the era of Chandragupta to Shivaji Maharaj and Emperor Jahangir. 

• The must see things at the museum are- Chinese snuff bottles, India’s early picture books, a painting with a dark history, beginnings of graphic novels in India, a 10-yard sari that celebrates the best of Indian textiles, Akbar’s armour, Anwar-i-Suhayli, Jade work.

• You can experience 5000 years of Indian art in a nutshell.

• A show of about 20 minutes is conducted every day in English and Marathi about the museum and its contents.

•  There are audio guides available in seven different languages namely, English, Hindi, Marathi, German, Japanese, Spanish and French for the tourists coming from different parts of the world.