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The fast-growing, cosmopolitan megalopolis formerly known as Bombay is India’s largest city and commercial epicenter, but Mumbai has also become a global powerhouse whose cultural and economic influence extends around the world. Technology and the booming Bollywood film and TV industry have helped generate unprecedented wealth, evident in the forests of gleaming skyscrapers, posh shopping malls, exclusive nightspots, five-star hotels, adventurous cuisine and a multifaceted expansion of the creative arts. For a taste of old Bombay, visitors may haggle for antiques and other finds in the maze of lanes in the downtown Thieves’ Market and take in the spectacular city views from the Hanging Gardens of Malabar Hill.
Officially renamed Mumbai in 1996, Bombay is the capital of Maharashtra and the economic powerhouse of India. Bombay's growth from a string of Koli fishing villages to a booming city of 16 million is due in part to the American Civil War, which temporarily dried up Britain's supply of cotton and sparked Bombay's cotton boom. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the massive expansion of Bombay's docks secured the city's future as India's primary port. Colaba, Bombay's main tourist enclave, is a melee of street vendors, shops, stalls and cafes that offer an amazing array of international cuisines, from the vegetarian "Hindu hotels" to Iranian lamb and mutton specialties, to fresh seafood dishes at Bombay's oldest Chinese eateries to fiery fish curries. Must-see places include the new National Gallery of Modern Art; the majestic Taj Mahal Hotel, built in 1903 by J.N. Tata; and Bombay's most famous landmark, the Gateway of India, built in 1924 by George Wittet to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. Other highlights are the colorful indoor Crawford Market, where bas reliefs by Rudyard Kipling's father, Lockwood Kipling, adorn the Norman-Gothic exterior, and the frenetic bazaars of Kalbadevi where you can buy everything from bathroom fixtures to Victorian porcelain to jewelry and cloth.