Front View of CSMVS, Mumbai

View of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), formerly the Prince of Wales Museum. This breathtaking building was completed in 1914 in the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. Designed by George Wittet, consulting architect to the Government of Bombay from 1907, this structure combined recognisable Hindu and Islamic features into a new architectural idiom. Notably, the building, completed during World War 1, was used as a military hospital for the duration of the War. It was opened to the public as a museum only in 1922.

Indo-Saracenic, an amalgamation of Islamic and Hindu architecture, rivaled the earlier Gothic style in scale, form and sculptural exuberance. The style was particularly suited to public buildings, like museums, where its inherent messages would be read by large numbers of visitors.