Old Bombay Photos

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly known as Victoria Terminus Station, in Mumbai, is an outstanding example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture in India, blended with themes deriving from Indian traditional architecture. The building, designed by the British architect F. W. Stevens, became the symbol of Bombay as the ‘Gothic City’ and the major international mercantile port of India. The terminal was built over 10 years, starting in 1878, according to a High Victorian Gothic design based on late medieval Italian models. Its remarkable stone dome, turrets, pointed arches and eccentric ground plan are close to traditional Indian palace architecture. It is an outstanding example of the meeting of two cultures, as British architects worked with Indian craftsmen to include Indian architectural tradition and idioms thus forging a new style unique to Bombay. Brief synthesis   The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) is located in Mumbai on the Western Part of India touching the shores of the Arabian Sea. This building, designed by F. W. Stevens, is spread across a 2.85 hectare area. The terminal was built over a period of 10 years starting in 1878. This is one of the finest functional Railway Station buildings of the world and is used by more than three million commuters daily. This property is an outstanding example of Victorian Gothic Architectural Revival in India, blended with the themes derived from Indian Traditional Architecture. Its remarkable stone dome, turrets, pointed arches and eccentric ground plan are close to traditional Indian palace architecture. It is an outstanding example of the fusion of two cultures, as British architects worked with Indian craftsmen to include Indian architectural tradition and idioms thus forging a new style unique to Mumbai. This was the first terminus station in the subcontinent. It became a commercial palace representing the economic wealth of the nation. Criterion (ii): Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) exhibits an important interchange of influences from Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture, and from Indian Traditional buildings. It became a symbol for Mumbai as a major mercantile port city on the Indian subcontinent within the British Commonwealth. Criterion (iv): Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) is an outstanding example of late 19th century railway architecture in the British Commonwealth, characterized by Victorian Gothic Revival and traditional Indian Features, as well as its advanced structural and technical solutions. Integrity The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) building is the expression of the British, Italian and Indian architectural planning and its use for Indian Railways. The entire building retains entire structural integrity. Its façade, outer view and usage are original. The premise of the building is a strictly protected area maintained by Indian Railways. The property is protected by a 90.21 hectare buffer zone. The Terminus is one of the major railway stations in the Metropolis of Mumbai and more than 3 million rail commuters use it everyday. In addition to the initial 4 railway tracks, the terminus now facilitates 7 suburban and 11 separate out-station tracks. This has led to the restructuring of several areas in the surroundings, and the addition of new buildings. Indian Railways are working to decongest this terminus and to deviate some of the traffic to other stations. The property is located in the southern part of the city, and it is subject to huge development pressures and potential redevelopment. However, considering the business interests in such a central place, there is a continuous challenge regarding development control. Another risk comes from intensive traffic flow and the highly polluted air in the region around the railway station. Industrial pollution in the area has been reduced due to reduction in industrial and harbour activities. Another problem is the saline air from the sea. The fire protection system needs to be checked and upgraded. Authenticity The heritage building retains a large percentage of its original structural integrity. The authenticity of the structure expresses the rich Italian gothic style through the eye catching 3D-stone carvings of local species of animals, flora and fauna, symbols, arched tympana, portrait roundels of human faces, and stone mesh works on the decorated rose windows. The elaborate detailing of the heritage building is original. It has carvings made in local yellow malad stones blended with Italian marble and polished granite in a few places. The architectural detailing is achieved through white limestone. The doors and windows are made of Burma teak wood with some steel windows mounted in the drum of the octagonal ribbed masonry dome with the coats of arms and corresponding paintings in stained glass panels. There are large numbers of other embellishments in statuary, which the architect has introduced in decorating the grand frontage. These further include gargoyles, allegorical grotesques carrying standards and battle-axes, and figures of relief busts representing the different castes and communities of India. In prominent places on the façade the bas-reliefs of the ten directors of the old Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company (GIPR) are shown. The entrance gates to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) carry two columns, which are crowned, one with a lion (representing the United Kingdom) and the other with a tiger (representing India) and there are tympana portraying peacocks. However, internal modifications and external additions effected a moderate change in the authenticity. These changes were generally reversible and have since listing been reverted to bring the building and surroundings to its original glory. Protection and management requirements The property has been declared as a “Heritage Grade – I” structure under the resolution of Maharashtra State Government Act on 21st April 1997. Continual efforts are being made to improve the overall state of the property and to ensure that the same does not decay due to its use by commuters and visitors. The buffer zone is established to prevent and reduce negative development in the surroundings. All legal rights of the property are vested in the Ministry of Railways, Government of India. Mumbai was the first city in India to have heritage legislation, enacted by Government Regulation in 1995 (N°

Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991)[2] was a British singer, songwriter, record producer, and lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock music, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. Mercury defied the conventions of a rock frontman, with his highly theatrical style influencing the artistic direction of Queen. Born in 1946 in Zanzibar to Parsi-Indian parents, he attended English-style boarding schools in India from the age of eight and returned to Zanzibar after secondary school. In 1964, his family fled the Zanzibar Revolution, moving to Middlesex, England. Having studied and written music for years, he formed Queen in 1970 with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. Mercury wrote numerous hits for Queen, including “Killer Queen”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Somebody to Love”, “We Are the Champions”, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”. His charismatic stage performances often saw him interact with the audience, as displayed at the 1985 Live Aid concert. He also led a solo career and served as a producer and guest musician for other artists. Mercury died in 1991 at age 45 due to complications from AIDS. He confirmed the day before his death that he had contracted the disease, having been diagnosed in 1987. Mercury had continued to record with Queen following his diagnosis, and he was posthumously featured on the band’s final album, Made in Heaven (1995). In 1992, his tribute concert was held at Wembley Stadium. His career with Queen was dramatised in the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. As a member of Queen, Mercury was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. In 1990, he and the other Queen members were awarded the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, and one year after his death Mercury was awarded it individually. In 2005, Queen were awarded an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. In 2002, Mercury ranked number 58 in the BBC’s poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.

Manockjee Cursetjee (also Manakji Kharshedji Shroff) (1808–1887) was a Parsi businessman and judge from Bombay, remembered as a reformer and proponent of female education. Life: Cursetjee was the son of Cursetjee Manockjee Shroff, and had an English education, under a Mr. Mackay at Joliffe’s school, near St. Thomas’s Church.In the 1830s, he knew John Wilson, whom he met socially in 1829.He obtained a government post in the Bombay Presidency, and became a member of the Royal Asiatic Society.In 1843 he became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Cursetjee was a noted Anglophile, and came into conflict with the local Parsi Panchayat. He began to criticise them, in the Bombay Times, in 1844–5. He visited the United Kingdom three times. On one visit to London, he met Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington, whose father Arthur Wellesley had been entertained by his own father in Bombay at a garden party. In 1859 Cursetjee started the first English school for Indian girls. Initially it was in his house, “Villa Byculla”, with an English governess and his daughters as staff. The initiative gained the support of Kharshedji Nasarwanji Cama and John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune. In 1863, with a land grant and a donation from Cursetjee, the Alexandra Native Girls’ English Institution set up in its own premises At the 1865 Social Science Congress in Sheffield, Manockjee Cursetjee speaks on female education in India In 1863, also, Cursetjee joined the Faculty of Law of Bombay University.[11] In 1866 he addressed the Social Science Congress in Sheffield, England, on education in India. Legacy: The school Cursetjee founded, the Alexandra Girls’ English Institution named after Alexandra of Denmark (originally the Alexandra Native Girls’ Institution), still exists. Cursetjee set up a public monument, now known as the “Khada Parsi”, to commemorate his father. Its location is now between two flyovers in Byculla. Family: His second son Cursetjee Manockjee studied at Oxford University and Lincoln’s Inn.[18] He was the first Indian to be admitted as an Oxford undergraduate in 1864. Another son, Jehangir Manockjee Cursetjee, matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1867.