International Museum Day: 13 Mumbai museums you must visit

CST heritage gallery:
The iconic UNESCO-listed building of Mumbai CST has a visitors’ lounge and visitors can take a walk in the heritage gallery. The locations that can be seen are Heritage Gallery (near cash office), Star Chamber, Grand Staircase, Lounge on II Floor, Forecourt. (No office areas).
Tickets:   Rs.100/- for students with Valid ID cards of the  College/School/University Rs.200/- for all other visitors.
Timings: 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm on working days (Saturdays, Sundays & Holidays closed)

Churchgate heritage gallery:
The ground floor of the heritage headquarter building of Western Railway has a heritage gallery. It has several artefacts. The 2,184 sq ft gallery is home to a steam engine model, crockery & cutters of Bombay Baroda & Central India Railway (BB&CI) dating back to late 1800, trophies such as Challengers trophy – 1894, various signaling equipments, communication equipments, Manglore tiles of 1865 etc. used in early days of railways. It can be accessed with the permission of the public relations department of Western Railway.

Reserve Bank of India monetary museum: It has an attreactive collection of not just money, currency notes and coins, but also grains and shells that were once used as money. It also explains history of barter, exchange and currency and one can find rare notes and coins placed with explanatory notes.

Address: It is located at Amar Building, Pherozeshah Mehta Road, near RBI, Fort. 
Website: museum.rbi.org.in 

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya: The city’s largest museum, formerly called the Prince of Wales Museum, was built in 1914. The Museum has a representative collection of various forms of art from India and to a certain extent, Far-Eastern art, Nepal and Tibet. The Natural History section is a major attraction for children.
Website: http://themuseummumbai.com/home.aspx

Mani Bhavan: Mani Bhavan is a simple old-style, two storied building on Laburnum Road, Mumbai. Whenever Gandhiji was in Mumbai between 1917 to 1934, he stayed here. It is now converted into a museum and research centre. The Museum is open on all the days of the week from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Website: http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/

Bhau Daji Lad Museum: The Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum was established in 1872 as the erstwhile Victoria & Albert Museum, Bombay. It is Mumbai’s oldest museum and the third oldest in the country. The Museum’s collection includes the fine and decorative arts which showcases the importance of craftsmanship practiced by various communities of the Bombay Presidency. It also has an extraordinary collection of clay models and dioramas that document the life of the people of Mumbai and the history of the city in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Website: http://www.bdlmuseum.org/

BEST Museum: Set up in Anik bus depot off the eastern express highway, this museum takes you through a walkthrough of the city's transport history. Till recently, it displayed the tram-car, but now has on display chaisis of old double-decker buses, models of tram cars, uniforms, an old bell found while digging at a bus depot site and lost more. It also has those old devices that were used by bus conductors while giving tickets.
Address: BEST Museum, Third Floor, Anik Bus Depot, Sion, Mumbai 400022. 

Nehru Science Centre: Nehru Science Centre has more than 500 hands-on and interactive science exhibits on energy, sound, kinematics, mechanics, transport, etc. installed in the science park & different galleries. The NSC building with its unique architecture houses several permanent science expositions on various themes.

Website: http://www.nehrusciencecentre.gov.in/

Mother Museum: The Mother (Aai) museum showcases a collection of 100-year-old brass, wood and bone artifacts gathered from Maharashtra is dedicated to motherhood collected by  hotelier Vithal Kamat. Also on display are coconut scrapers, children's rattles and combs made of ivory and ebony. It is located adjacent to the domestic airport at Vile Parle. 

Website http://www.vithalkamat.com/about.html

 

Acworth Leprosy Museum: This museum documents the history of the disease. It has interesting artefacts including a report on Leprosy of the Royal College of Physicians Prepared for Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for the Colonies, London, leprosy in the British Empire.
Address: It is located inside the Acworth Municipal Hospital for Leprosy, opposite Don Bosco Shelter, Wadala west. 

Website: http://www.theacworthleprosymuseum.org/

Archdiocesan Heritage Museum: An organisation set up by the Mumbai Archdiocese it has been collecting discarded artefacts from churches across Mumbai and restoring them. 
Address: Goregaon east. Archdiocesan Heritage Museum, St Pius X College, Aarey Road, Goregaon (E)

Framji Dadabhoy Alpaiwalla Museum: The FD Alpaiwalla Museum was set up in 1954, and is dedicated to Mumbai’s Parsi community. It started out as a showcase for the artefacts that Alpaiwalla, a Parsi, who worked at the Zoroastrian Bank, collected from around the world. This is Mumbai’s only Parsi Community museum. Address: FD Alpaiwalla Museum, Khareghat Memorial Hall, Khareghat Colony, NS Patkar Marg, Kemps Corner 

Mobai Bhavan: It is the first museum in the city to showcase the culture of Mumbai’s East Indian inhabitants.The artefacts on display include tradition artefacts and equipment of daily use. It also shows photographs of traditional East Indian jewellery, clothes and wedding rituals.

Address: Mobai Bhavan, Theresa Villa, Manori-Gorai Road, Manori, Malad (W).