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Minara Masjid · Photo by Swapnil Sakhare, CC BY-SA 4.0
The wholesale city, one lane per trade.
The first stop out of CSMT serves the old bazaars. Each lane sells one thing: gold in Zaveri Bazaar, then cloth, spices, paper, steel. The temple of Mumbadevi, the goddess the city is named after, sits in the middle of it. After dark in Ramzan, Mohammed Ali Road becomes the city's biggest food street.
The guide
11 places worth getting off the train for. See the whole guide
See
The temple of the goddess the city takes its name from, squeezed in between jewellers' shops.
Short walk from the stationMap for Mumbadevi Temple (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
Shop
The gold and jewellery market. Narrow lanes, hundreds of shops, and a great deal of money changing hands quietly.
Short walk from the stationMap for Zaveri Bazaar (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
See
A mosque lit in green on Mohammed Ali Road, the landmark everyone navigates the food lanes by.
15 to 20 minute walkMap for Minara Masjid (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
Eat
Kebabs, malpua and phirni from stalls that run past midnight. At its best, and most crowded, on Ramzan evenings.
On the plate: Seekh kebab, Malpua
15 to 20 minute walkMap for Mohammed Ali Road food lanes (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
Shop
A covered cloth market of hundreds of small shops, selling fabric by the metre.
15 to 20 minute walkMap for Mangaldas Market (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
See
The city's Friday mosque, finished in 1802 and built over an old water tank.
15 to 20 minute walkMap for Juma Masjid (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
See
The oldest synagogue in the city, founded in 1796 by the Bene Israel community. The street it stands on is named after its founder.
Short walk from the stationMap for Gate of Mercy Synagogue (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
See
A Jain temple at Pydhonie that dates to 1812, in the middle of the market crowd.
15 to 20 minute walkMap for Godiji Parshwanath Temple (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
Eat
A Bhendi Bazaar kitchen since 1923. Nalli nihari and kebabs, at shared tables.
On the plate: Nalli nihari
15 to 20 minute walkMap for Noor Mohammadi Hotel (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
Eat
The big Mughlai restaurant of Bhendi Bazaar: raan, biryani and falooda.
On the plate: Falooda
15 to 20 minute walkMap for Shalimar Restaurant (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
See
The white marble mausoleum of the Dawoodi Bohra community, completed in 1975, with the whole Quran inscribed on its inner walls.
15 to 20 minute walkMap for Raudat Tahera (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
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On foot
5 stops · Two to three hours
An evening of eating through Bhendi Bazaar and the lanes below the Minara Masjid.
The city’s year
Then and now
1890sPydhonie Street · Photo by Photoglob Co., Library of Congress, Public domain
TodayMinara Masjid · Photo by Swapnil Sakhare, CC BY-SA 4.0
Bullock carts and carved balconies in the heart of the bazaar. The carts have become handcarts and tempos, and some of the balconies are still up there if you look above the shop signs.
From the people who were there
Nobody has sent one from here yet.
