IIT Bombay campus tour: hostels, festivals and Powai Lake

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, IIT Bombay or IITB for short, occupies one of the greenest corners of Mumbai. Its campus at Powai, in the city's north-eastern suburbs, lies between Powai Lake and the hills of a forested national park, and once you are through the gate the traffic and noise of the city fall away. For most of its students it is home for four years or more, since almost everyone lives on campus. This guide describes what the campus is like, what a visitor can realistically see, and how to plan the journey.

A short history

IIT Bombay was founded in 1958 as the second of the Indian Institutes of Technology, the group of public engineering and science institutes set up after independence. It was established with assistance arranged through UNESCO, with equipment and experts from the Soviet Union in its early years. The institute has kept the name Bombay, although the city has been called Mumbai since the 1990s.

Undergraduates enter through India's national engineering entrance examinations, and the institute also has large postgraduate and doctoral programmes, a school of management and a school of design. Teaching is in English.

The lie of the land

The campus stretches from the main gate on the busy road through Powai to the hostels near the lake. Roughly, it has three parts:

The academic area, close to the main gate, with the Main Building, the departments, the library and the lecture halls.
The hostels and sports grounds, further in, strung along the main campus road.
The green edges: the lakeshore on one side and a wooded hill on the other.

The roads are lined with large old trees, and cycling is the usual way to get from a hostel to a lecture.

The Main Building and the academic area

The Main Building is the institute's formal face: a long, low block from the early years, set behind lawns and palms, which houses the administration. From here a long covered walkway runs past department after department. Students call it the Infinite Corridor, a name it shares with a famous corridor at MIT, and during the monsoon it lets you cross much of the academic area without getting wet.

Nearby are the Convocation Hall, where degrees are awarded and big lectures and performances are held, the Central Library, and a newer complex of large lecture theatres. Departments and laboratories fill the blocks on either side.

Hostel life

IIT Bombay is a residential institute. Students live in numbered hostels, known simply as H1, H2 and so on, and each has its own dining hall, common rooms, teams and nickname. Hostel identity is strong: inter-hostel competitions in sport, drama, music, debating and technical projects run through the year, and alumni tend to introduce themselves by hostel as readily as by department.

The older hostels are low buildings around courtyards; the newer ones are tall blocks with views over the lake or the hill.

Sport and the Gymkhana

Student activities are run through the Students' Gymkhana, the student body that looks after sport, culture and clubs. The sports area includes playing fields, courts, a student activity centre and an Olympic-size swimming pool.

Mood Indigo and Techfest

Two student-run festivals put the campus on the national map each winter:

Mood Indigo, the cultural festival, has run since the early 1970s. It brings competitions, concerts and well-known performers, and it is one of the largest college cultural festivals in Asia.
Techfest, the science and technology festival, features robotics contests, exhibitions and lectures, and draws students from colleges across India.

For outsiders these festivals are the easiest time to see the campus, as they are designed for visitors; registration is usually required.

Lake, hill and wildlife

Powai Lake forms one edge of the campus, and there is a small boathouse on the shore. Behind the hostels, a wooded hill gives a wide view over the lake to the tower blocks of Powai and beyond.

Because the campus adjoins Sanjay Gandhi National Park, wildlife is part of daily life. Monkeys and many species of birds are common, cattle wander the roads, crocodiles live in the lake, and now and then a leopard strays in from the forest, which makes the campus news. Students are told to keep their distance from all of them.

Visiting

Entry to the campus is controlled at the gates. Visitors generally need identification and a reason to enter, such as an appointment with a department or an invitation from a student or staff member, and the rules are tightened or relaxed from time to time. Prospective students should look at the institute's official website and contact the relevant office in advance instead of arriving unannounced.

Getting there

By suburban train: Kanjurmarg, on the Central line, is the nearest station; from there it is a short ride by autorickshaw, bus or taxi to the main gate.
From the western suburbs: buses, taxis and autorickshaws run from Andheri along the link road through Powai.
By metro: Mumbai's metro network has been expanding, including a line planned past Powai. Check a current map to see what is open.
From the airport: Mumbai's international airport is fairly close, a drive of perhaps half an hour to an hour depending on traffic.

Traffic in Mumbai is heavy for much of the day, so leave generous margins for any appointment.

Where families usually stay

Powai: the closest option. The planned neighbourhood beside the lake has hotels, restaurants and shopping within a few minutes' drive of the gate.
Andheri East and the airport area: many business hotels, convenient for flights and a reasonable drive from the campus.
Bandra and the Bandra Kurla Complex: more to do in the evenings, with a longer drive.
South Mumbai (Colaba, Fort): best for the city's historic sights, but allow well over an hour each way.

Practical tips

November to February is the most comfortable time to visit. The monsoon, from about June to September, brings very heavy rain.
Autorickshaws operate in the suburbs, including Powai, but not in South Mumbai.
Carry photo identification for the gate.
Dress for heat and humidity, and carry water.
Comparing engineering schools in Asia? See our guides to Tsinghua University, the National University of Singapore and KAIST.

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Cover photo: Shishirdasika, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons