The Best Museums in Mumbai

On this page, I will continue to add a list of the best museums in Mumbai. I’m just discovering them myself, so this will be a growing list of the best museums in Mumbai.

The best part about these museums is not so much the spaces themselves but rather the events and exhibitions they frequently hold. So, be sure to subscribe to their Instagram and Twitter pages if you want to be culturally invigorated from time to time.

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Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

So, this year, after 16 years of living in Mumbai, and having visited museums all over the world, I finally managed to drag my ass to go to our own Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum in Mumbai. It was a fun two-hour experience. It’s not a big museum, not comparable to the MET (NY) or the V&A ( London ), not even the Indian Museum in Kolkata, all of which have way more Indian artefacts than this one does, but it’s still an interesting experience and a good place to take children. And to hang out on a Sunday afternoon, which is what I did.

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About

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (shortened to CSMVS since the name’s quite the mouthful) was earlier known as the Prince of Wales Museum. It is located at Churchgate, a 15 min walk from the station, and 10-15 min from Fountain and Gateway of India. The is listed as a Grade I Heritage Building, received the ‘UNESCO Asia–Pacific Heritage Award’ for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2010, and is built in an Indo-Gothic style of architecture, as many buildings in the area are. It is arguably among the best museums in Mumbai.

Timings and Tickets

The museum is open from 10 AM to 6 PM daily. Tickets cost INR 100 for Indian citizens, and an additional INR 100 If you want to take pictures even if it’s through a phone camera. A pink wristband is provided as a sign you can take pictures. Large baggage is not allowed inside but there is a cloakroom next to the ticket counter to store them. Parking facilities are available.

What’s Inside

The museum has a main gallery and an extension gallery, the latter holding the more interesting exhibits, in my view.

The ground floor has the Natural History Gallery and the Indian Sculptures Gallery. The Natural History gallery is interesting because of the meticulous recreation and arrangement of the animals, especially the birds. It’s interesting to read the various labels on the animals: Extinct, Endangered, Near Threatened, Vulnerable, and Least Concern . The last label was for the wild rabbits and gave me a good laugh. There’s also a display of the great Hornbill and an explanation of how it became the logo for the Bombay Natural History Society. All in all, plenty to engross you for a while.

Next on the ground floor is the Indian Sculptures Gallery. It’s an engrossing walk through the displays, but I couldn’t help thinking I’d seen a better collection in the Indian Museum in Calcutta, in Sarnath, and in many others. Most of the sculptures were from the 11-12th century.

On the first floor are several galleries, key among them, the Himalayan Art Gallery, Miniature Paintings Gallery, Indian Metal and Decorative Arts Gallery, and the Prints Gallery. The Prints Gallery is fascinating with photos depicting Bombay’s eventful past.

The first and second floors of the extension building had exhibits on money, textiles, and jewellery, the Visual Arts Gallery (first floor) and the Jehangir Nicholson Gallery of Indian Arts (second floor) which was hosting a Raza exhibition. I preferred the artwork on the first floor, most of which was by students of JJ School of Arts and curated by William Gladstone Solomon.

I enjoyed the Indian Textiles section because I love the varied hues and handicrafts the country boasts. But again, I couldn’t help thinking I had seen better. You would find better pieces at a crafts fair in India. Perhaps it would have been interesting if they had representation from every state in the room.

There is also a Children’s Museum which is supposed to be quite good but we did not go there. Spread over an area of about 10,000 square feet, the Museum includes a 1200 sq. ft. exhibition hall, a 150-seater amphitheatre, an activity plaza, an open terrace deck, and an ‘adda’-like space around a Baobab tree (95 years old).

The Verdict

Overall, the museum makes for a good Sunday afternoon visit. The entry fee is not too high and the museum is located in an interesting and iconic part of Mumbai. My suggestion is if you are a tourist in Mumbai, and have only two or three days, it can be skipped. But if you’re here for longer, or live in the city, it makes for an interesting outing with family, especially with children.

Points to Note

Most of the museum had no air conditioning, so it was hot and sweaty in the afternoon. Relief came in the coin, textile, and jewellery sections, which had air conditioning. A small shop on the ground floor sells water and cold drinks. The Gift Shop is interesting but sparsely stocked; it sells T-shirts, postcards, and a few craft items. For purchasing local crafts, a Bombay Store, Fab India, or a local artisan’s mela would be better bets.

Website

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Dr Bhau Daji Lad City Museum

About

Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum in Byculla is another interesting small museum to visit. It began as an extension of an India exhibition held at Kensington’s Victoria and Albert Museum. I would consider it one of the best museums in Mumbai as it is well-maintained, rarely crowded, and has some requisite exhibits documenting the city’s history and evolution. The museum is located in Rani Baug, Byculla, next to the Byculla zoo.

Timings and Tickets

The museum is open from Thursdays to Tuesdays, from 10 AM to 6 PM; the last ticket is sold at 5:30 pm. The museum is closed on Wednesdays. Indian nationals pay INR 20 to enter and the entry cost is INR 200 for foreign nationals. A free museum tour is conducted every Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 AM and 12:30 PM by a member of the curatorial team. For inquiries, email [email protected], call +91 22 23741234, or visit their website.

What’s Inside

The museum is quite small and can easily be covered in an hour. The Industrial Arts Gallery carry Indian crafts pieces that were sold to European countries in the 19th century. The Kamalnayan Bajaj Mumbai Gallery tells the story of Mumbai’s origins and development in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries through dioramas and models. The Founders’ Gallery showcases the stories of the men who helped establish the Museum and contributed to building the city, Dr Bhau Daji Lad being one of them. There is also a 19th-century paintings gallery and an Image galley. 

While the museum is well-maintained and rarely crowded, the descriptions of the utterly exquisite exhibits could be improved. There are description pamphlets next to some of the exhibits, and there are supposed to be headphones providing commentary, which sometimes work and sometimes do not. Therefore, the guided tours are worthwhile to do.

The best part though is the museum’s backyard garden which hosts a range of marble statues. These statues were made headless in the days leading to Indian independence. There is also a mutilated statue of Queen Victoria.

The Verdict

A visit to the museum may feel underwhelming to some, so it’s not worth going out of your way. However, if you’re in the area, do swing by—it will be an enriching hour. Try to time your visit with the free museum tour, conducted on Saturday or Sunday.

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The Byculla Zoo, officially known by the tongue-twisting name Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Udyan and Zoo, is right next door and shares an entrance with the museum. While the zoo might not win any awards, it is one of Mumbai’s cherished “green lungs” and offers a chance to stretch your legs while enjoying the company of some furry, feathery, or scaly friends. At over 160 years old, it’s among the city’s oldest public gardens. Entry fees are INR 50 for Indians, INR 25 for children, and INR 400 for foreigners (Why?!), with visiting hours from 10 AM to 5 PM. Wednesdays closed.

If animals aren’t quite your thing, here’s another reason to visit: the original Kala Ghoda statue, a black horse that once stood proudly in South Mumbai’s art district, now resides at the entrance of the zoo. The statue, originally featuring King Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) on horseback, was removed in 1965 during efforts to erase colonial markers in the city. Interestingly, though, while the statue left, the name Kala Ghoda (Black Horse) has stuck to the area, and we all continue to call it that.

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National Museum of Indian Cinema

About

Located in the Films Division Complex in Mumbai’s Peddar Road, the National Museum of Indian Cinema was inaugurated in January 2019 and is fairly new. The museum portrays the history of Indian Cinema with an array of artefacts and digital components displayed over an expansive space. The displays include kiosks, interactive screens, and informative interfaces. On show are also film items like costumes, posters, film copies, promotional materials, soundtracks, trailers, transparencies, old cinema magazines, and data encompassing filmmaking and distribution. Follow NMIC on Instagram to learn more about them and the events they hold.

Timings and Tickets

Open Tuesday to Sunday 11 AM to 6 PM. Tickets are INR 75 for Indians over 14 years, INR 40 for Indians from 3-13 years, and INR 500 for foreigners over 14 years and INR 250 for foreigners between 3-13 years (ouch!). There are supposed to be guided tours at 11:00, 12:30, 14:30 and 16:00 but I saw no sign of them. However, the guards were helpful and guided me through the exhibits. Saturday is the busiest day when there is also a free classic film screening. Bus loads of children visit on Saturday.

Big bags must be kept outside the Gulshan Mahal (Pink Bungalow). There are toilets and free water stations on each floor. One cannot take videos inside.

What’s Inside

First visit the 19th-century heritage pink bungalow (Gulshan Mahal) and then the glass building where you should start from the fourth floor and work your way downwards.

The Pink Bungalow, or Gulshan Mahal has two floors and takes the visitor through the history of photography and cinema making over a century. The museum starts with a showcase of early cinema, including the Lumiere brothers’ work and Indian films like Alam Ara, Raja Harishchandra, and others from the silent era and beyond, and moves on to how it evolved over time. It displays camera equipment, prints, lobby cards, posters, and movie snippets along the way. On the second floor, there’s a captivating timeline of Indian films spanning a century, along with descriptions of regional cinema’s progress and influence (especially, fascinating to me were the histories of Madan Theatre and S S Vasan’s Chandralekha). As you stroll along, hear music directors, cinematographers, and artists discussing scene creation and movie making. It’s a wonderful experience.

The nearby glass building spans four floors with more exhibits. You ride the elevator to the fourth floor and move down using escalators. The fourth floor gives an overview of cinema’s evolution over the years, including elements like makeup, playback singing, sound production, and cinematography. It also touches on cinema all over India and global influences on Indian cinema. Biographies of filmmakers, actors, singers, and other influential figures in Indian cinema adorn the walls. Moving to the third floor, you’ll find a comprehensive breakdown of the technical filmmaking process—development, pre-production, production, principal photography, wrap, post-production, and distribution. The second floor, smaller in size, is devoted to movies for kids, focusing on animation and children’s films. The ground floor and basement are dedicated to Satyajit Ray: his life, his era, major works, sketches, books, and insights into his filmmaking process. I could easily spend hours in this section alone, marvelling at the extensive research and exquisite presentation that went into it.

Trivia: India’s Central Board of Film Certification is housed in the glass building.

The Verdict

What a find this museum turned out to be! Meticulously crafted and an absolute joy to experience. I visited on a Sunday morning at 11:30, and the place was practically deserted. I spent about three hours in the museum without intending to. I’m sure I could spend an entire day here to learn about moviemaking (if I were that passionate, which I’m not). Several corners of the museum have mini-movies playing, which were interesting enough to pass the time. It’s a brilliant spot for kids as well; they can explore intriguing equipment and even have a go at some. Last but not least, the museum filled me with pride. Indian cinema boasts such accomplished figures and carries such a profound history and heritage. Interestingly, the museum sits right across from Mukesh Ambani’s residence, Antilia. So if that was a to-do on your list, take a look, and off you go.

Overall, it’s a great inexpensive visit for an Indian visitor and a good use of time with kids.

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Mani Bhavan

Mumbai’s International Airport (T2) houses wonderful galleries of stunning artwork. There are about 6000 artefacts, which are works of 100 artists and 1000 artisans, spread over a span of 3 kilometres. While most of the artwork is in the airport’s departure area, there are also some pieces in the arrival area. I am usually in a hurry to leave the airport but cannot help but pause by the stunning wall art. The artefacts offer a worthwhile feel of India’s states, culture, tribes and heritage.

There are 6 thematic compositions spread across different levels viz. India Greets, India Global, India Elemental, India Silent Sentinels, India Moves and India Seamless. “India Greets” is one of the main installations with real doorways and balconies from around India mounted on walls. There is also a life-size white peacock that slides in front of the works every hour (although I’ve never seen it myself).

Artworks by prominent artists and local craftsmen/ women are on proud display here. Totally worth taking a stopover flight to visit the airport museum.

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