National Gallery of Modern Art

This guide to the National Gallery of Modern Art in Mumbai follows the building's life as George Wittet's 1911 civic hall, where Yehudi Menuhin, Paul Robeson and Gandhi once filled the room, through its decline into a rented space for boxing matches and discount sales. It centers on sculptor Pilloo Pochkhanawala, who fought to save it and helped push the government to reclaim it in 1984, only to die two years before it reopened as a gallery. Architect Romi Khosla later led the renovation. Look at the arched ceilings above you, where the Bombay Symphony Orchestra once played.