Gilbert Hill: an excellent view of Mumbai

Sibashish Dash

Concrete buildings aren’t the only thing that rise vertically in the metropolis of Mumbai, India’s most populous city. In a suburb, north of the city, there is a huge column of basalt, formed during Deccan volcanism, rising 200 feet towards the sky. Surrounded on three sides by tall apartment complexes of nearly the same height, this monolith called Gilbert Hill is practically invisible to anyone but the nearest neighbors.
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Today, Gilbert Hill offers an excellent view of Mumbai city for travelers. At its top, Gilbert Hill is home to two Hindu Temples—the Gaodevi and Durgamata—which can be accessed by a staircase built into the basalt rock. Most Mumbai city lovers consider the Hill as a well-kept secret in the middle of the urban sprawl, older than the trees and vegetation surrounding it. The people who live around this geological monument are barely concerned about the hill because of their own struggle for survival. The only people who visit the site are scholars, historians and devotees of the shrines. The vegetation that once surrounded the hill has given way to buildings and dingy slums.
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Although the shrines on top of Gilbert Hill are themselves an encroachment on the site, they have now become the unlikely guardian of the hill. Some years ago, a local builder suggested that the hill be demolished to make room for more buildings. This suggestion was appropriately crushed by the temple trustees. The shrines are the only things that’s protecting this geological wonder from complete destruction.