On The Way to Vipassana

It is my 3rd week in Mumbai, and I am still exploring the city. The more I explore, I feel like, the more I need to know about this City of Dreams. The most interesting thing I found about Mumbai is, it has a lot to offer in terms of travel, specially on weekends. This day we decided to visit One of the Seven Wonders of Maharashtra, the Global Vipassana Pagoda.

About Global Vipassana Pagoda

This Pagoda is basically a large meditation dome hall with the capacity of 8,000 people. Global Vipassana Pagoda, Mumbai had been inaugurated by Pratibha Patil, then President of India on 8th February 2009. This has been declared as One of The Seven Wonders of Maharashtra by ABP Majha and the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) in 2013.

The main purpose of this huge pagoda is to share the information about the Vipassana and Lord Buddha. Vipassana is the practice quintessence of the universal, non-sectarian techniques of Lord Buddha.

The design of the entire pagoda has followed the Burmese design. This has been done to express gratitude towards Myanmar and its people for preserving the practice of Vipassana. The main gate of the pagoda is handcrafted and made in Myanmar. It adorned a large crystal in its pinnacle area and the entire pagoda is painted using golden colour where the astonishing spire of the pagoda made of real gold. There is an ornamental umbrella piece at the top of the spire, which had been donated by the people of Myanmar.

Location of The Global Vipassana Pagoda

This amazing spiritual meditation centre is located in Gorai village. It is in the north-west part of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

How to Reach Global Vipassana Pagoda

The best way to reach the pagoda is to catch the western line Mumbai local train during non office hours to avoid crowds, and then get down at Borivali. From the Borivali railway station, take a meter auto till Gorai jetty which may cost you 70 to 100 rupees in total, from there you will get ferries to the Global Vipassana Pagoda, where one way trip charge is only 15 rupees per person.

What to Eat During the Trip

1st thing you need to keep in mind is to take a water bottle even if it is empty, as to cover that lard area of the pagoda you will be needing to drink water several times. The authority of the Global Vipassana Pagoda has arranged drinking water for the visitors in different parts of the pagoda. It also has many food stalls outside the pagoda, and also a large veg canteen is available in the pagoda premises. We tried the veg canteen and the food was delicious.

Explore More at The Pagoda Premises

The Global Vipassana Pagoda has a lot to offer. Starting with those amazing work on the walls and gates of the pagoda, it lets you know about the life of Lord Buddha through its projector gallery. It also has a souvenir shop, where you can get to buy different kinds of home decors, spiritual items, recycle and sustainable items. It also has a large art gallery, where they have described different events of Goutam Buddha’s life and his teachings through paintings. You can’t enter to the meditation hall, but, you can see the hall from the visitor’s gallery through the glasses.

Visiting Hours

If you are visiting the Global Vipassana Pagoda, do not keep any other plan during the day as this may take your entire day time. The visiting hours of the pagoda is between 9am to 7pm every day. It has no entry fee.

Mesmerizing Sunset

The return via ferry to Gorai jetty from pagoda was jaw dropping. The reflection of bright pink Sun on those little waves of the Arabian Sea was mesmerizing.  It feels like, after a whole day of work, the tired sun is melting like an ice-cream cube while setting down.