OperaHouse: Heritage Walk by Khaki Tours

Scores of years before the Kala Ghoda precinct was identified as the art district of the city, this extreme end of ‘Native Town’ was the hub which witnessed over half a century of cultural evolution as it gave rise to the most prominent musicians, writers, actors, painters, filmmakers, sculptors and singers of their times. Finally in 1911, the Royal Opera House was inaugurated as if it was the jewel in the crown that this area had developed in the preceding five decades. Louis Rousselet, a French traveler, writer and photographer visiting Mumbai of the times felt that the art scene was so vibrant in this area that he likened it to Rue Breda of Paris’s Montmartre.

2.5 Hours

2 Kms

HIGHLIGHTS

 Manto’s Bridge of winds

 Maker of the original Sai Baba idol

 Indian voice in the outer space

 Lady with a lamp

 Origins of Calendar Art

 First Hindustani musical “classes”

 Jinnah’s Mumbai connections

 Birth of Faster Fene

 A ‘fascist organization’ that made musicals

 Benham’s ‘Hole’

 Raja Ravi Verma’s Muse

 A male performer who was a trendsetter in women’s fashion

 Organization that fought ‘Racism in art’

 First Indian photo studio to have a branch in London

 And of course, the Royal Opera House from outside!