To get started visiting this spot during dusk is my usual morning task, so thinking of publishing some facts about it....
A sight to behold, Mumbai’s Queen’s Necklace, Marine Drive is a treat to sore eyes.
Sparkling by the day, twinkling by the night, this is the best place to get the most amazing view of Mumbai’s skyline.
You can see lots of people influxed here seeing nothingness, but all are soaked in the warmth of the ocean and appreciating the splendid view of this deep water....
The present Marine Drive is a three and a half-kilometre-long concrete road in southern Mumbai which stretches north along the coastline, forming a natural bay. This C-shaped road links Nariman Point to Babulnath, and is situated at the foot of Malabar Hill. What is Marine Drive for the rest of the world is Sonapur for the locals! Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road – that is the official name of the drive.
Some facts about Marine drive-
1) Marine Drive resulted out of a failed reclamation project. Mumbai’s Backbay reclamation was first proposed in the 1860s, then revisited in the 1920s to connect Nariman Point and Malabar Hill. However, the project was shelved first due to the American Civil War and later due to faulty plan, resulting in just 440 acres of reclaimed land instead of the planned 1500 acres. Out of this, 235 acres was sold to military and 17 acres became the iconic Marine Drive.
2) One very interesting fact about the seafront promenade is that after its initial construction, the stretch was so strong and sturdy that it didn’t require any repairs for the next 72 years. It was only in 2012 that it was resurfaced entirely.
3) Through the 1930s, the boulevard witnessed construction of modernist buildings – cinemas, offices and apartment blocks in Art Deco style, which went on to become an integral part of the city’s identity. Author Navin Ramani in his book ‘Bombay Art Deco Architecture: A visual journey’ compares Miami’s Ocean Drive to Mumbai’s Marine Drive with their respective celebration of Art Deco architecture.
4) Surprising as it may sound, at one point in time Marine Drive’s glamorous and impressive apartments were not the first choice for residents owing to the high rentals and costs. It was only close to the partition of India that the buildings began to fill up with the newly arrived rich Indians, who preferred to find homes closer to the business hub and Churchgate Street, which had by now become the epicentre of Mumbai’s nightlife with restaurants, bars, jazz clubs popping up.
It's not a tough job to find hotels here... If u wish to give ur eyes a gud morning treat, u can just book a hotel nearby and can get up with this beautiful view around...
5) WORLD HERITAGE- Recently, Marine Drive has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its stunning neo-Gothic structures from the 19th century and 20th-century art deco style buildings.
6) TETRAPOD- those huge ‘four-legged’ concrete structures binding themselves to one another at the seashore here. But do you know, these structures aren’t mere showpieces, they actually serve a purpose. Andy, by the way, they’re known as tetrapods. When gigantic waves splash and hit hard against the shore, these pods absorb a portion of the marine energy and keep the waves from destroying the promenade!
7) QUEEN'S NECKLACE- The best thing to visit the drive at night! After all, it isn’t called the Queen’s Necklace for no reason! The street lights at night make the road look like a string of pearls and create an illusion of a necklace. In fact, the view is said to be so spectacular that people in the late 1900’s would often trek to Malabar Hill to take in the beautifully illuminated curve of the road – a visual that prompted a European journalist in the 1930s to first call it the “Queen’s Necklace.”
8) In 2014, Marine Drive hosted the Republic Day Parade. Having always been held at Shivaji Park, it was a pleasant surprise for the Mumbaikars to witness this iconic ceremony at their favourite Marine Drive.
Lastly, how i show my presence over this beautiful spot early morning...
By Halaema.
