Last night, I went down memory lane as I tried to find some pictures from my volunteer life in India and among the thousands I have to check, I saw pictures from the Prince of Wales Museum, officially known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya.

I’ve seen the Prince of Wales Museum several times during my touristy trips to Colaba (aka South Bombay) area. But I never went inside. So one fine day, I checked with my friend, Leah who’s a couchsurfer from Canada, and since she also hasn’t been (you know that thing about places being close but never go to?) we both decided to learn more about Indian history, culture and the arts!

And since we held residency cards, and perhaps with some of the Hindi we managed to learn, we only paid Rs 50 to get in instead of 300. There’s a camera fee though. As it’s cheaper, I got the rate for the iPod/mobile phone (can’t remember the exact price) instead of my camera. Results are still ok, though might have been more spectacular if I had a better gear. Oh well, that’s done. What’s left now to do is to share the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya with you. Enjoy your photography-based virtual tour!

(all images taken using iPod Touch 4. I’m not sure about the names of the gallery so I just classified it based on what I remember)

The Ground Floor Exhibit

The Vishnu and Akbar Gallery

The Painting Gallery (aka Tata Hall)

The Oriental Gallery (aka porcelain and ivory gallery)

I hope you enjoyed your virtual tour of the Prince of Wales museum! The next time you drop by Mumbai, make sure to pay this one a visit. Though you can’t remember or say Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, by all means, while walking around Colaba or making your way to the Gateway of India or the Taj Hotel, stop for a bit and learn more about Indian and Marathi culture and history, live!