Victoria Terminus , Mumbai
(now Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus)
About
Opened on the New Year's Day in 1882, this Gothic
building housing the main railway station of
Mumbai was designed by F.W.Stevens and was named
after the then Queen Empress on Jubilee day
in 1887. It is also declared as an urban heritage
site. It was renamed as Chatrapathi Sivaji terminus
in 1996 after addition of an underground suburban
terminus. Presently, the headquarters of the
Central Railway in Mumbai, this magnificent
terminus building, commonly known as CST, was
completed in 1888 for the Great Indian Peninsular
Railway. It is one of the world's grandest railway
stations, quite the equal of New York's Grand
Central Station or London's St Pancras Station.
It looks more like a cathedral than a railway
station, an impression strengthened by the tall
dome crowned with a statue representing 'Progress'.
The Grand Structure
Modeled on the lines of the St Pancras Station
in London, Victoria Terminus is undoubtedly
the Raj's piece de resistance, complete with
carved stone friezes, stained glass windows
and flying buttresses. It is Gothic architecture
at its best, an awesome edifice with most citizens
viewing with deep pride. The handsome building
could have been anything but a railway station,
and in fact, in recent times, was converted
into a public art gallery in a unique experiment
of taking contemporary art to the people. The
station was christened to commemorate Victoria
Jubilee Day in 1887 when India's first steam
engine puffed out to neighboring Thane. Today
it has been rechristened Chhatrapati Shivaji
Terminus after the Maratha warrior. And electric
ones have replaced the old steam engines. But
to the 2.5 million commuters who push past its
massive portals everyday, this is still VT,
the pulse of a throbbing city. Bombay's Victoria
Terminus is no mere railway station; it is a
prominent city centre around which metro life
ebbs and flow. It is certainly worth the effort.
|
