Ballar Bunder Gatehouse is a

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

Heritage structure that has been converted into a maritime museum, located at

Ballard Estate The Ballard Estate business district is situated in the financial district of Fort (Mumbai precinct), Fort. Located between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Fort in South Mumbai, it hosts the offices of Freight transport, shipping compan ...

in the old

Fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

area of

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It was built in 1920 to commemorate the realignment of the harbour and is located where ''Ballard Pier'', a small pier once existed with an approach jetty at right angles to the pier. The building was among the five entries from the Mumbai for the 2009

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation. Page 102 It is one of the stops on ''Special tour of Museums in the city'', a tour organised by

BEST Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

and MTDC as well as the ''Naval Dockyard Heritage Walk'', conducted by the

Naval Dockyard A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

on the first Sunday of every month.

History

In 1920 Ballard Bunder Gatehouse was built to commemorate Ballard pier being developed into

. This was a planned development by the

Bombay Port Trust Mumbai Port (also known as the Bombay Port) is a port which lies midway on the west coast of India, on the natural deep-water Mumbai harbour in Maharashtra. The harbour spread over is protected by the mainland of Konkan to its east and north an ...

and was executed under a plan made by

George Wittet George Wittet (1878–1926) was a Scottish architect who worked mostly in Mumbai, India. Biography George Wittet was born in Blair Atholl, Scotland in 1878. He studied architecture with a Mr. Heiton of Perth, Scotland, and worked in Edinburg ...

, the chief architect of Bombay Port Trust between 1908 and 1914. After

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

from the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, the gatehouse became part of the

and fell into disuse, obscured from view for over 50 years. In 2005, the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

restored the building, opening it to the public as a maritime museum. The Navy dedicated the new museum to the city of

Architecture

The contemporary triple arch gatehouse complements the architecture of Ballard Estate. The gatehouse design is similar to that of the Green Gate on the eastern waterfront.

Collection

The museum collection includes giant 6 feet tall anchors and lights that are knee high and were once atop of a lighthouse. The museum also houses old maps and photographs of Mumbai, rich in diversity from goldsmiths and policemen to mill workers and fisher folk along with scale models of ships, trawlers and dhows.

References

{{Tourist attractions in Mumbai Maritime history of India Indian Navy Buildings and structures in Mumbai Museums in Maharashtra Maritime museums in India Gatehouses (architecture)