Asiatic Society of Mumbai

Housed in the neoclassical Town Hall on Horniman Circle, this learned society and library dates to the early 19th century and holds one of India's richest collections of rare manuscripts and coins. A grand flight of steps rises to a Doric-columned portico, and the domed reading rooms shelter thousands of antiquarian books, including a prized manuscript of Dante. The building's cool, colonnaded interior contrasts with the bustle of the surrounding financial district. Film crews and readers alike are drawn to its stately, palladian grandeur.