Jijamata Udyaan, Zoo in Byculla, Mumbai, India

Jijamata Udyaan is a zoo and botanical garden in Byculla, Mumbai, covering 50 acres, of which about two-thirds is planted garden and the rest holds the zoo. Its entrance is a tan and grey stone structure with three arches on carved columns, a balustrade of short pillars above, and a green metal gate below the central arch. Inside, a bronze sculpture of a seated woman in a sari and a standing child with a staff rests on a pedestal of brownish stone blocks.

Construction of the garden began in 1861 on 33 acres in the Mount Estate, Mazgaon, now part of Byculla, and the flora of the earlier Sewri garden was moved there. Lady Frere opened it to the public on 19 November 1862 as Victoria Gardens. The Agro Horticultural Society of Western India ran it until its collapse in 1873, when the municipal corporation took over; in 1890 the garden was extended by 15 acres for a zoo. After independence it was renamed after Jijamata, mother of Shivaji.

The name honors the seventeenth-century mother of Maratha ruler Shivaji, whose role in regional history remains visible here. Visitors also encounter the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, whose facade displays columns and arches in a European style.

The garden and zoo occupy 50 acres in Byculla, with the botanical garden taking about two-thirds of the area and the zoo the rest. The main gate on the Byculla side is the stone triple-arch entrance with a balustrade of short pillars. Plan for shade under trees that are over a century old.

A climate-controlled enclosure houses eight penguins from South Korea, which stand out as an exception in the tropical city. This facility keeps temperatures low enough for animals from colder regions to live here.