Mumbai Diary

DR. BHAU DAJI LAD
MUSEUM
The Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai's
oldest Museum, opened to the public in 1857. It
is the erstwhile Victoria and Albert Museum,
Bombay. The Museum building is one of the
most important historical sites of the city. It was
the rst colonial building to be built for the
specic purpose of housing a museum.
Bombay, then the richest mercantile town in
India, was considered the Gateway to the East,
the rst city of India, and had the honour of
exhibiting to the world the country's rich cultural
traditions.
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A little more than a century later, on November
1, 1975, the Museum was renamed the Dr.
Bhau Daji Lad Museum in honour of the man
whose vision and dedication enabled its
establishment. Dr. Bhau Daji Lad was the rst
Indian Sheriff of Mumbai, a philanthropist,
historian, physician, surgeon and secretary of
the Museum Committee when it was rst
instituted.
On November 19, 1862, Governor Bartle Frere
laid the chief cornerstone of the Museum at a
ceremony attended by a large gathering of the
city's elite. On May 2, 1872, the Victoria and