MINI GUIDE
Culture in Mumbai
COMPILED BY LORNA PARKES, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM IAIN STEWART AND KEVIN RAUB. PHOTOGRAPHS: PHILIP LEE HARVEY, SAIKO3P/ISTODE/GETTY, A HOWDEN INTERNATIONAL/ALAMY, JEREMY RICHARDS/GETTY, UNIQUELY INDIA/GETTYMumbai essentials The know-how
FURTHER READING
Lonely Planet’s
Goa & Mumbai
(£13.99)
includes an
in-depth
section on
Mumbai. You can also find
the city in our Guides app,
available for free on app
stores. Lose yourself in
Shantaram by Gregory
David Roberts (£10.99;
Abacus), a gripping tale of
an Australian fugitive who
falls for gang life in
Mumbai. To learn more
about Mumbai’s slum
culture, try Kalpana
Sharma’s sensitive and
engrossing history,
Rediscovering Dharavi
(£9.99; Black Classics).FESTIVAL SPIRIT
O Mumbai Sanskruti (Jan)
Free, two-day celebration of
Hindustani classical music at the
Asiatic Society Library.
O Kala Ghoda Festival (Feb)
A two-week-long art fest
(kalaghodaassociation.com).
O Elephanta Festival (Feb/Mar) A
classical music and dance
festival on the waterfront at
the Gateway of India.
O Nariyal Poornima (Aug)
This Koli celebration in Colaba
marks the start of the fishing
season and the retreat of the
monsoon winds.
O Ganesh Chaturthi (Aug/Sep)
Mumbai gets totally swept up by
this celebration of the Hindu god
Ganesh (pictured below), when
statues of the deity are
submerged in the sea.
O Mumbai Film Festival (Oct)
Screenings across Mumbai
(mumbai
filmfestival.com).com; 26 Rustom Sidhwa Marg;
from £60).
In the happening Khar area,
Le Sutra blends contemporary
chic with traditional artefacts and
statement art in its lovely rooms.
The in-house gallery, spa, café and
restaurants are bonuses (lesutra.in;
14 Union Park; from £100).
Abode Bombay is a terrific
20-room Colaba boutique hotel
with switched-on staff, near the
Gateway of India. It’s fashionably
designed with colonial-style and
Art-Deco furniture; luxury rooms
have baths (abodeboutiquehotels.
com; 18 Lansdowne House, MB
Marg; from £115).WHERE TO STAY
With its contemporary rooms,
friendly staff and an excellent
Fort location, The Residency is
the kind of good-value place
where you can be certain you’ll be
looked after well (residencyhotel.TRANSPORT
National carriers Singapore
Airlines and Malaysia Airlines fly
daily from Singapore or Kuala
Lumpur to Mumbai (from £389;
singaporeair.com). Traffic means
the journey into town from
Chhatrapati Shivaji International
Airport takes one to two hours by
taxi. Pre-booked cars through
your hotel cost £25, but it can be
half that amount if you take a taxi
on arrival at the airport.
Mumbai’s inexpensive black-and-
yellow taxis are the most
convenient way to get around
southern Mumbai; make sure
drivers use meters. The minimum
fare is 25p; a three-mile trip costs
£1. Or try the game-changing
Uber and Ola taxi apps.One of the old-meets-new rooms
at Le Sutra, in fashionable KharBeaches Activities Tours Sights SleepingRedi
((((((((£(((((9.