The Gateway of India was erected to honour King George V and Queen Mary's visit to Mumbai in 1911 and was inaugurated by the Viceroy Rufus Isaacs, the earl of Reading, on December 4, 1924.
The engraving on the Gateway of India states, "Erected to commemorate the landing in India of their Imperial Majesties King George V and Queen Mary on the Second of December MCMXI."
Due to lack of funds, there are no allocations for an access road upon the completion of the Gateway of India. This explains why we can only see one side of the monument on land.
The design for the Gateway of India required three years to gain approval and was authorised on March 31, 1911.
The Gateway of India boasts jali stone carvings and an archway of basalt, with a construction cost of 21 lakhs funded by the Indian government in spite of it being a British monarch-made monument.
Under British administration, this served as the entry point for guests coming from the west. Thus the name 'Gateway of India' came to being.
This historic monument is 26 meters high and has a 14-meter diameter dome. The structure is an adaptation of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
The Gateway of India rises majestically at the South Mumbai waterfront along the Arabian Sea.