Thursday, April 29, 2010

Gateway of India

The Gateway of India is great archway on the waterfront of the port of Bombay, in western India.

India's British rulers built the Gateway to mark a royal event. This was a visit to India in 1911 by King George V and Queen Mary. At that time, the British sovereign was also the emperor of India.

Its architect built the Gateway of India as a kind of mighty triumphal arch, a type of building made famous long before by the Roams. But he designed its arches and towers in the Indian Gujarat style of the 16th century.

It seemed fitting to erect the Gateway of India in Bombay. Under the British, this port on Arabian Sea had grown into the main port of arrival for ships sailing to India from Europe and North America. Its deep-water harbor, protected by islands, has helped to make Bombay one of Asia's great cities.

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