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The CSMVS is Mumbai’s biggest, and arguably, the best museum. The grand, massive Indo-Saracenic building – built in 1922 and now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site – as impressive as what’s housed inside, with a unique blend of Indian, Persian and British architectural styles that echo the rest of Mumbai.
Visiting Mumbai and don’t have a plan or friends to catch up with? The museum boasts a mammoth collection of over 70,000 works, and therefore makes it my personal pick for the loiterers of the museum world. You could easily spend the better part of a day here pondering, sketching, or journaling.
Displays inside cover the broader history of the subcontinent through a largely archaeological lens: the terracotta structures of the ancient Harappan civilisation; Buddhist sculptures dating 1-500 CE showcasing early Chinese and Japanese society; impressively preserved sculptures dating to early Hindu dynasties. Other displays include Victorian paintings, rare textiles, and a Natural History gallery showcasing taxidermied birds and mammals.
What’s more – this is a museum that one can keep returning to, because they also host a series of highly curated exhibitions throughout the year, mostly focused on explorations of Indian art, culture, identity and history through various mediums.
Time Out tip: Make sure to save time for a quick detour within the grounds to check out the Exhibition Gallery within the Children’s Museum, often showcasing acclaimed artist works. Also enclosed within the Children’s Museum is one of the few remaining baobab trees in the city, over a 100 years old. The museum was actually built around it, and it serves as a heritage story-telling space.
Prices:
Indian adult visitors: ₹200 (₹250 with audio guide)
College students with valid IDs: ₹100 (₹150 with audio guide)
Children (5-15 years): ₹40 (₹90 with audio guide)
School students: ₹40 (₹90 with audio guide)
Foreign adults: ₹700 (free audio guide)
Foreign child visitors: ₹200 (free audio guide)