The city of dreams Mumbai has lots of amazing factors, whether it’s the glorious Gateway of India, Chowpatty’s chaat, gushing waves of Juhu beach,, and of course the Bollywood. Apart from all these, it has many surprises too, and Aarey Colony is one of them. In this busy city, people often search for some peaceful and quality time with their dear ones. Many go for holidays to other places away from the fast-paced life. For those who are not able to go for vacations, Chota Kashmir located in Aarey Colony is the perfect place to be.

For all those, who are looking for heaven and tranquillity in the hustle bustle,, and clamor of Mumbai, Chota Kashmir is the place to visit. Surprised? A perfect picnic spot, Chota Kashmir garden, and lake are the place for all age groups. Whether coming with family, friends, or partners, this place promises you a feeling of complete peace. Here, you will surely encounter a genuine feeling of serenity.

The place is open all seven days of the week from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The ticket price of the place is affordable; you might have to pay some extra charges for the camera. Apart from this, you can go boating in Kashmir lake. You can choose the swan-shaped two, four, and six-seater paddle boats according to your requirement. You can relish the moments during your boat ride at an affordable price of INR 20 per person (the price may change as well).

Chota Kashmir’s Bollywood Connection

This is a wonderful garden situated at a distance of 3-4 km from the Goregaon side door and on the highest point of a little mount. Consequently, it is properly called Chota Kashmir. It overlooks the rest of the Aarey Colony. You may have seen this garden in numerous Bollywood films. A long time back, when Bollywood couldn’t stand to shoot in Kashmir or Shimla, it bounded across from Film City so they could shoot scenes here. This is the place where the legendary actor Late Rajesh Khanna sang the sweetest song for shy Sharmila Tagore in Aradhana. Today, it’s a most loved place for couples, family, and friends for their free day from work or school.

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The green peacefulness will fill your soul with tranquillity. The garden is equally hugely, thronged by couples who can spend some time in loneliness in the bright gardens. Chhota Kashmir has enough green and dry shade, basic facilities like food and water, and abundant space for opening the picnic baskets and bags and relishing time with family and friends.

Kashmir Lake

Chota Kashmir has another Kashmir connection, the Kashmir lake spread on 4 acres of land is opposite Chhota Kashmir and right over the street. It is famous for the boat rides, and the colorful two or four-seater boat will surely catch your attention. The rides are accessible between 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. You can enjoy the boat rides for 30 minutes or 50 minutes in a pocket-friendly way. The chirping of birds, fresh air, and quiet environment add some extra charm to your boat ride.

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So, if you are visiting Aamchi Mumbai, make sure not to miss out on this lovely place which is a little piece of heaven in the bustling city. Away from the busy roads, pubs, and discos, this place will give you complete peace of mind.

Film City is an integrated film studio complex situated near Sanjay Gandhi National Park at Goregaon East, Mumbai in India. It has several recording rooms, gardens, lakes, theaters, and grounds that serve as the venue of many Bollywood film shootings. It was built in 1977 by the state government to provide facilities and concessions to the film industry. The plan for Film City was prepared and executed under the guidance of V. Shantaram. It was renamed Dadasaheb Phalke Nagar in 2001 in memory of India’s first producer-director-screenwriter Dadasaheb Phalke, who is considered the father of the Indian film industry. It has been the shooting location for almost all Bollywood films. It has all types of locations available for shooting including a temple, prison, court, lake, mountains, fountains, villages, picnic spots, garden, and even a man-made waterfall.

Spread across a vast area of 520 acres, the Film City is comprised of about twenty indoor studios and is located in Aarey Colony, Mumbai, Film City is often regarded as a home of Bollywood. The place is so vast that about 1000 film sets can be erected here simultaneously. Over the years, it has been the location for some Bollywood films. Almost 900 movies and many more television shows have also been shot here. Today, Film City has grown to be one of the best film studios, well-equipped with all the essential amenities and world-class facilities. Not only is it a great place for film shoots, but it is also filled with verdant greenery and refreshing expanses.

Built on the lines of the Film City of California, today it is considered synonymous with Bollywood. There is no denying the enigma that filmmaking holds on every one of us, and Film City gives us a chance to live out our dream with its various tours. Some excursions are organized in the premises of the Film City which are aimed at the different aspects of movie-making, which are open to all who wish to experience it. You can visit sets that depict foreign locations right here in Mumbai, or learn the nuances of acting at the live movie shoot tours. A land where it is difficult to differentiate between reality and dreams, Film City is a must-visit for all movie buffs.

Mumbai Film City Tour

The Kanheri Caves (Kānherī-guhāḥ) are a group of caves and rock-cut monuments cut into a massive basalt outcrop in the forests of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, on the island of Salsette in the western outskirts of Mumbai, India. They contain Buddhist sculptures and relief carvings, paintings, and inscriptions, dating from the 1st century BCE to the 10th century CE. Kanheri comes from the Sanskrit Krishnagiri, which means black mountain.

The site is on a hillside and is accessible via rock-cut steps. The cave complex comprises one hundred and nine caves, carved from the basalt rock and dating from the 1st century BCE to the 11th century CE. The oldest is relatively plain and unadorned, in contrast to later caves on the site, and the highly embellished Elephanta Caves of Mumbai. Each cave has a stone plinth that functioned as a bed. A congregation hall with huge stone pillars contains a stupa (a Buddhist shrine). Rock-cut channels above the caves fed rainwater into cisterns, which provided the complex with water. Once the caves were converted to permanent monasteries, their walls were carved with intricate reliefs of Buddha and the Bodhisattvas. Kanheri had become an important Buddhist settlement on the Konkan coast by the 3rd century CE.

Most of the caves were Buddhist viharas, meant for living, studying, and meditating. The larger caves, which functioned as chaityas, or halls for congregational worship, are lined with intricately carved Buddhist sculptures, reliefs, pillars, and rock-cut stupas. Avalokiteshwara is the most distinctive figure. A large number of viharas demonstrates there was a well-organized establishment of Buddhist monks. This establishment was also connected with many trade centers, such as the ports of Sopara, Kalyan, Nasik, Paithan, and Ujjain. Kanheri was a University center by the time the area was under the rule of the Mauryan and Kushan empires.^[1] In the late 10th century, the Buddhist teacher Atisha (980–1054) came to the Krishnagiri Vihara to study Buddhist meditation under Rahulagupta

Sleeping lion at SGNP lion safari

The main attractions of the park are lion and tiger safaris for encouraging eco-tourism. The lion safari is a 20-minute ride through a 12 ha (29.65 acres) fenced forest area in one of the park’s green buses. The park is home to an estimated 25 lions and lionesses, of which only 2 can be safely seen at close range from the caged buses. The remaining 23 have been relocated or placed in fenced areas far away from the roads used by the green buses. During visiting hours, some of the resident lions are let out into the enclosure and can be viewed from the safety of the bus. 4 tigers are kept semi-confined in a 20 ha (49.42 acres) fenced area that is toured by the buses. A 5 m (16.40 ft) high and 2,200 m (7,217.85 ft) long protective fencing surrounds the area. This is done so that all visitors can safely view lions and tigers in their natural habitat. Here the visitors are caged on the bus so the big cats can roam like in the wild. Two other tigers roam in a much larger area. There are many claims that these tigers and lions are tranquilized in the interests of tourism.

Sanjay Gandhi National Park

The Sanjay Gandhi National Park area has a long written history dating back to the 4th century BCE. In ancient India, Sopara and Kalyan were two ports in the vicinity that traded with ancient civilizations such as Greece and Mesopotamia. The 45 km (28 mi) land route between these two ports was partially through this forest.

The Kanheri Caves in the center of the park were an important Buddhist learning center and pilgrimage site sculpted by Buddhist monks between the 9th and the 1st centuries BCE. They were chiseled out of a massive basaltic rock outcropping.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (formerly Bombay Municipal Corporation) acquired the catchment areas of the Tulsi and Vihar lakes, and also added the land from the government dairy of Aarey under protection. The Krishnagiri National Park was established under the Bombay National Park Act in 1942. At that time the area of the park was only 20.26 km² (7.82 sq mi). The dairy development board began operations near Krishnagiri National Park in 1954, but outside the area of the park. In 1969, 2076 hectares of land of the Aarey Milk Scheme (now known as Aarey Milk Colony) was transferred to the forest department. However, this area was not notified as reserved or protected forests. In 1976, an area of 68.27 km² was officially designated as Borivali National Park.

The Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (FDCM), Nagpur sent an official communication to the Regional Manager, FDCM, Thane on 22 July 1980 stating that the 2076.073 hectares of revenue land that was transferred from Aarey Milk Scheme were to be included in Borivali National Park. The communication also directed that 575 ha of the revenue land should be used to build a recreational zone, while the remaining 1501.073 ha will remain a part of the Borivali National Park. On 10 October 1980, another communication from the FDCM, Nagpur to Thane directed the latter to declare the area as either reserved or protected forests to allow the department to have stricter legal control. However, no such declaration was made.

The park was further expanded to a total area of 82.25 square km in 1981. The park was renamed Sanjay Gandhi National Park in 1996, after Sanjay Gandhi, the son of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The same year, some forests from the Thane division were merged into the park, further expanding its total area to 103.84 square km.