⁣The Gateway of India is an arch monument built during the 20th century in Bombay, India. The monument was built to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary at Apollo Bunder on their visit to India in 1911. At the time of the royal visit, the gateway was not yet built, and a cardboard structure greeted the monarch.⁣
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The foundation stone was laid in March 1913 for a monument built in the Indo-Saracenic style, incorporating elements of 16th-century Marathi architecture.⁣
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The final design of the monument by architect George Wittet was sanctioned only in 1914, and construction was completed in 1924. It was opened to the public on 4 December 1924 by then viceroy Reading.⁣
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The structure is an arch made of basalt, 26 metres (85 feet) high. The stones were sourced locally while the perforated screens were brought in from Gwalior.⁣ The cost of the construction was ₹21 lakhs (two million one hundred thousand rupees), borne by the then government⁣
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The Gateway was later used as a symbolic ceremonial entrance to India for Viceroys and the new Governors of Bombay. It served to allow entry and access to India.⁣
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The Gateway of India is located on the waterfront at Apollo Bunder area at the end of Chhatrapati Shivaji Marg in South Mumbai and overlooks the Arabian Sea. The monument has also been referred to as the Taj Mahal of Mumbai, and is the city’s top tourist attraction.⁣
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It holds significance for the local Jewish community as it has been the spot for Hanukkah celebrations, with the lighting of the menorah, since 2003. ⁣
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The gateway was the site of a terror attack in August 2003, when there was a bomb blast in a taxi parked in front of it. ⁣
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In February 2019, protests were organised at the premises in the wake of the Pulwama attack.⁣
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The gateway is also the monument from where the last British troops left India in 1948, following Indian independence. First Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry passed through the Gateway on their way out in a ceremony on February 28, 1948, signalling the end of British rule.⁣