David Sassoon Library

A tranquil reading room and garden in the Kala Ghoda quarter, this library was endowed by a prominent Baghdadi Jewish merchant family in the 19th century. Built in honey-toned Malad stone with a pediment and a marble statue of its founder, it offers a shaded veranda where members read amid old bookcases. The garden terrace at the rear is a favourite retreat from the surrounding traffic. Its collection and architecture together evoke the philanthropic culture of colonial Bombay's mercantile elite.