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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

sculpting bombay, British Raj, decorative sculpture, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus

College

Fine Arts and Communications

Department

Art

Abstract

The seaport of Bombay is often referred to India’s “Gothic City.” Reminders of the British Raj are seen throughout South Bombay, embodied in Victorian architecture and sculpture. In the heart of the Bombay lies the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, a massive, towering railway station blending neo-gothic and vernacular architectures of the nineteenth-century (fig. 1). The terminus is evidence of the unique relationship between the British, Parsees, and indigenous peoples during the rule of the British Raj, as European architects worked with Indian craftsmen to create a symbol of ‘progress’ in Colonial India. In keeping with the traditions of gothic revival architecture, the building is heavily ornamented with reliefs and sculpture of flora, fauna, allegories, and government officials. However, these Victorian elements have an Indian flair, as native animals, vegetation, as well as known members of the British Raj and Bombayites are depicted (fig 2). Although some ornamentation was designed by the building’s architect, Frederick W. Stevens, most were created by students of the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art in Bombay under the direction of John Lockwood Kipling. Much research has been done on the construction of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in recent years as it was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004.1 However, little research has been accomplished on the decorative sculpture of the railway terminus. I argue that the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus must be studied as it reflects the ideological attitudes of nineteenth-century British and Indian craftsman of Bombay. My research examined the pictorial elements of the railway terminus in terms of their original contexts: the Raj’s educational reform in India, the influence of the Parsees in nineteenth-century Bombay and the use of Indian motif and subject matter.

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