David Sassoon Library, Mumbai

David Sassoon Library

Kala Ghoda, Mumbai

Bang opposite the Kala Ghoda (Black Horse) stands an elegant building, complete with pointed arches and crowned with a clock. It is the David Sassoon Library. The library building along with several Victorian Gothic and Art Deco buildings of the region is part of a UNESCO Heritage Site known as The Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai.

David Sassoon Library, Mumbai

The origin of the library dates back to 1847 when a group of young mechanics and foremen of the Royal Mint and Government Dockyard established a museum for mechanical models and architectural design. The museum also housed a small library. The institute and the library came to be known as the Bombay Mechanics Institue.

Synagogues of downtown Mumbai

Keneseth Eliyahoo, Shaar Harahamim, Shaare Rason, Megan David, Magen Hassidim and Tiphearth Isreal

The history of the Jews in India dates back to the ancient times. Judaism was the probably the first foreign religion to reach India. Jews always have been a extreme minority and they have lived in peace with the local population for centuries.

Synagogues of Mumbai. 1st Left: Magen David, 2nd Left: Keneseth Eliyahoo, 3rd Left Top: Tiphearth Israel, 3rd Left Bottom: Magen Hassidim, Right Top: Shaare Rason and Right Bottom: Shaar Harahamim

Mumbai (formerly Bombay) always had the large Jewish population and during the 1940s it reached its peak with a figure of almost 30,000. Today the Mumbai Jews number about 3,500 and the houses a total of 9 synagogues. Out of the nine, six are in the down town Mumbai area while the remaining three are in the outskirts of the city.