RCB Supports Indian Heritage; Tour Today

In 2015, The Indian Textile and Costume Gallery, the first in the city of Mumbai, was established at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS). CSMVS has a modest but significant collection of around a thousand textiles which can best be termed an interesting mix of historical and representative textiles. Textile traditions of India have changed immensely in the past 150 years. Our lifestyle in cities no longer accommodates textile beyond comfort or fashion. However the textiles preserved in museums provide a glimpse of traditional Indian textiles.

CSMVS also houses an institutional collection for research and study. The nucleus of the collection was formed with the purchase of Sir Purshottam Mavji Collection in 1915. The oldest pieces in the collection are remarkable fragments
of block printed cloth, dated to the 9th to the 17th centuries CE, which were exported from Gujarat to Fustat in Egypt.

The Museum’s collection has been built over the years through purchases and gifts, and continues to grow even today.
Displayed in a state-of-the-art climatecontrolled gallery at CSMVS, these historical collections are among the most
popular with CSMVS’ visitors. The CSMVS Indian Textile and Costume gallery has been graciously adopted by the Rotary
Club of Bombay for a period of two years (2022 and 2023).