Mumbai - A Thursday
One Thursday (04th June 2009, 6 months after 26/11 and days before the annual monsoon) myself and Anbuselvan decided to explore/see the different architectural styles dotting the south of Mumbai.
We began with the visit to 6 century old Mumba Devi temple in Zaveri bazaar. The present name of the city, Mumbai is derived from here. From here till lunch we traveled mostly by foot.
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| Mumba Devi Temple |
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai/Crawford Market's iconic clock tower
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| Crawford Market |
The then "Office of The Commissioner of Police, Mumbai"
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| Office of The Commissioner of Police, Mumbai |
Crawford Market designed by British architect William Emerson is a blend of Norman and Flemish architectural styles.
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| Crawford Market - Clock Tower |
The impressive white marble frieze on the entrance, designed by Lockwood Kipling father of eminent writer Rudyard Kipling depicts a typical market scenario.
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| Frieze on Crawford Market |
Crocodile in one of the corners of Mumbai CST building.
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| Crocodile in CST building |
Cat head gargoyle -Gargoyle is a carved grotesque primarily used in European churches to drive people into it describing hell like situation outside. In engineering terms it is a decorative water spout to divert water away from the walls thereby preventing erosion.
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| Gargoyles in CST |
Dog head gargoyle
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| Gargoyles in CST |
Central dome of Gothic style Municipal Corporation Building, Mumbai
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| Municipal Corporation Building |
Lion with a raised paw
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| Statues in Corporation building |
Winged lion
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| Statues in Corporation Building |
Front View - Municipal Corporation Building, Mumbai
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| Corporation Building |
Majestic winged statue bearing the inscription urbs prima in Indis ("First city in India" in Latin)
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| Statues in Corporation Building |
Statue of Sir Pherozeshah Mehta - a leading lawyer of Bombay and president of Indian National Congress in 1890.
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| Statues in Corporation Building |
Front view of Winged Lion. A pointed arch can be seen behind
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| Statues in Corporation Building |
Architecture belonging to Indo-Saracenic revival type. In this picture turrets(a small tower that projects vertically from a wall of the building, initially used for military fortification but here used decoratively) and pointed arches can be seen. Modeled on St. Pancras Railway station, London
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| Front view of CST Building |
The statue on one of the gables of wings of west facade represents "Engineering and Science/ Civil Engineering". The statues on other sides represent "Statue of Progress", "Shipping, Commerce and Agriculture" which were the integral elements of the British empire's progress.
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| Statues in CST Building |
The central woman is holding a long rod with cylindrical head - cylinder of a steam engine, the left woman holding an angle measurement tool - gunners quadrant (to measure the angle of elevation or depression of a gun barrel) and right woman a 2 blade screw propeller.
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| Statues in CST building |
Victoria Terminus as called then was built to commemorate the golden anniversary of Queen Victoria
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| CST Building |
The CST building is 3 storeys high throughout, with only towers, gables, spires exceeding that height. The main facade with the clock is behind a small garden. The central facade is surmounted by a large octagonal dome with dovetailed ribs and projecting crockets (hooks for decoration purposes). The central dome carries a sculpture of a lady having a flamed torch on her right hand lifted upwards and a wheel on the left hand symbolizing progress. It is also known as statue of progress.
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| CST Building |
General Post Office of Mumbai modeled on Gol Gumbaz of Bijapur, Karnataka. It was designed by British architect John Begg and completed in 1913.
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| General Post Office, Mumbai |
GPO, Mumbai is the first building in India in Indo-Saracenic style architecture. Onion domes are typical of this style. Domed chatri shown below.
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| Domed chatri - General Post Office Building |
Marshall & Son's building - Located at the edge of the Ballard estate, designed by Charles Frederick Stevens this domed building accommodated the Indian branch of English engineering works, Marshall, Sons & Co.
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| Marshall and Son's building |
Statue of Britannia on Marshall and Son's building. Britannia is the Latin name of Britain or Britain personified as female. Here she is shown with a trident, helmet and a shield with a lion behind her. She was featured on all modern British coinage series till 2008. The reverse of new 2 pound coin features Britannia.
The Britannia brand of biscuits was named when an English man C.H.Holmes was brought into the company after 26 years of its formation. Britannia is credited with introducing sliced bread to India.
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| Statue of Britannia |
BSE tower with green signal (up arrow) symbolically used to indicate bullish market.
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| BSE Tower |
The Asiatic Society, Mumbai designed by Colonel Thomas Cowper and completed at 1833. A flight of steps leads to the Grecian portico with 8 Doric columns. Doric column is one of the element of ancient Greece. Eg. Parthenon
Characteristics of Doric column that can be seen
- Fluted column
- Column wider in the bottom than the top
- Placed directly on the floor without base
- A smooth round flare at the top of the column (Echinus)
- A square abacus on top of echinus to disperse the load
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| The Asiatic Society, Mumbai |
Elphinstone building and Horniman Garden
Elphinstone building designed by Renzi Walton using a Venetian Gothic architectural style - where lightness in structure is emphasized. Here the windows support the entire wall while in Gothic style they are projected.
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| Elphinstone building |
BSE tower - with horizontal scroll of share price fluctuations.
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| BSE Tower |
Dalal street means "The broker street". Similar to "The Wall Street" it is used as a metonym for the Indian financial market.
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| Dalal Street |
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| BSE Tower |
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| Flora Fountain |
Hutatma chowk (Martyr's square) was named in memory of the members Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti who lost their lives while on peaceful demonstration. This incident provided the impetus to the creation of Maharashtra with capital as Bombay and Gujarat on 1st May 1960. The statue of "Martyr with the flame" honors all those Maharashtrian heros.
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| Statue of "Martyr with the flame" |
An eternal flame that burns adjacent to this place depicting the sacrifice of the martyrs.
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| Eternal Flame |
Rajabhai Tower - Designed by George Gilbert Scott (who never visited India) and modeled on Big Ben, named after Premchand Roychand's mother whose son (a cotton businessman) funded the clock tower partially.
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| Rajabhai Tower |
Octagonal form of top of the tower compared with the square form below. The clock now chimes once in 15 minutes.
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| Top of Rajabhai tower |
Built on the fusion of Venetian and Gothic styles. Here the glass windows support the entire building a typical feature of Venetian style of architecture.
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| Rajabhai Tower |
Rajabhai tower was the tallest edifice when it was built.
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| Rajabhai Tower |
The tower is adorned with 24 statues depicting common Western Indian people, representing their attire and lifestyle. The sculptors were made by Indian artisans and the students of JJ School of Art under the guidance of Lockyard Kipling matching the European standard of sculpting.
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| Statue in Rajabhai Tower |
Constructed in 1924, Gateway of India overlooks the Mumbai harbour. Designed by Scottish architect George Wittet combining Roman triumphal arch and Indo-Saracenic style with Muslim influences. The central dome being inspired by Muslim architectural style. The main arch is flanked by 2 large hallways on either side. The perforated screens on the hallways were brought from Gwalior.
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| Gateway of India |
Built to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary on 2nd December 1911(MCMXI). The Gateway after construction was used as a symbolic ceremonial entrance to India. The last British troops to leave India passed through the Gateway on their way out in 1948, signalling the end of British rule. 2 of the 4 turrets can be seen.
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| Plaque in Gateway of India |
Taj Mahal Palace Hotel's foundation was laid by Jamshetji Tata and built 21 years before Gateway of India. An unverified story says that Tata was barred from entering the exclusive Green's hotel because of his Indian nationality, he decided to build a hotel which would far exceed the hotel from which he had been barred. Green's hotel which was popular amongst sailors then, was later purchased by Tata , demolished and Taj tower was constructed. Moorish onion shaped domes on the sides can be seen. The central dome is of Renaissance style with 4 round turrets. The layout of having entrance from the city side was deliberate so that majority of rooms would have sea facing rooms.
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| Taj Mahal Palace Hotel |
Taj Mahal Tower opened in 1973 consisting 23 stories of arches and balconies.
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| Taj Mahal Tower |
Monument of Swami Vivekanand to celebrate his journey from Mumbai to Chicago for the Parliament of World Religions.
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| Swami Vivekanada |
Monument of Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj mounted on a horse, with sword on one hand. Wordings of Shri Samarth Ramadas who lived during Shivaji's times can be seen below
“Nishchayacha Mahameru, Bahutajanansi aadharu, Akhandasthiticha Nirdharu, Shrimant Yogi …… Ya bhumandalache thai, Dharma rakshi eisa nahi Maharashtra dharma rahila kahi tumha karani."
The pinnacle of determination, protector of people, resolute in intent, wealthy yet detached from his opulence……There is no other on this earth, who has protected any people; It is because of you that the culture of Maharashtra survived.
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| Statue of Shivaji |
We took a lunch break around 1345 and then boarded a taxi to Malabar hill
Banganga Tank - It is an ancient tank which is part of Walkeshwar temple complex. The water that feeds the pond is from a spring and hence it is not salty even though the tank is very close to the sea.
Mythology - When Lakshman brother of Ram shot an arrow in this ground, water came gushing out creating a tributary of Ganga, hence the name (Ganga created by an arrow)
Malabar Hill is an upmarket residential area in Mumbai occupies the Western prong of a forked peninsula.
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| Mumbai skyline from Malabar Hill |
Dolby hospital with slant roof top and Sumer Heights. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan seen in the center of left half of image. It is a classic example of deco saracenic style amalgamating clean geometrics of art deco styles and traditional architectural features. Saracenic dome crowning the structure can be seen.
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| Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan from Malabar Hill |
View of Girgaun Chowpatty from Malabar Hill. This beach is noted for its Ganesh Visarjan celebrations when statues of Lord Ganesha are immersed.
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| Chowpatty Beach |
Mumbai skyline in background - Air India building and Trident Hotel.
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| Arabian Sea from Mumbai |
Thanks to Anbuselvan for accompanying me in this long tiring single day trip with limited breaks. This trip triggered a lot of other similar trips in Thanjavur, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin, Munich and so on..........