A walk around Wellington Circle in South Mumbai

The fountain marks the site where the Duke camped in tents, during two visits to Bombay in 1801 and 1804. A heritage structure, the fountain was recently restored in 2018 and is in fine working condition.

Built to house 78 seamen, the Sailors' Home was designed by Ar. Frederick William Stevens using local high quality stone in an early or 'domestic' Gothic style. Stevens is best remembered for his later Bombay Gothic masterpiece, Victoria Terminus. The Sailor's Home commemorated the visit of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, to the city in 1870.

The building is crowned by a prominent triangular pediment, within which a sculptural relief by Richard Lockwood Boulton of Cheltenham, England, depicts Neptune, the Roman God of the Sea, surrounded by nymphs and seahorses. The griffins to the left and right, holding shields, were designed locally by John Lockwood Kipling and carved by his students from the J.J. School of Art, then the Bombay School of Art.

Positioned near the coast, the building benefited from ventilation by the sea air. To further cool the interior, the structure was encased within a deep corridor. The Gothic Sailor's Home, with its varied, attractive roof line, is seen here from the later, Art Deco, Regal Cinema across the road.

Pictured here is a water coloured rendering on paper of Regal Cinema.

A planned, mixed-use structure with shops on the ground floor. Regal pioneered cinema construction in the city - it was the first air-conditioned theatre, and even offered its patrons the use of an underground parking lot! On its facade, in yet another first for the city, its name was lit up in neon. Note the geometric motifs and subtle vertical accents on the building's stepped facade, including the vertical signage, all distinctive features of Art Deco design in Bombay.

Inside, the clean lines, marble flooring and liberal use of teak wood, all characteristic of Deco interiors of the period, can still be seen.

Indo-Saracenic, an amalgamation of Islamic and Hindu architecture, rivaled the earlier Gothic style in scale, form and sculptural exuberance. The style was particularly suited to public buildings, like museums, where its inherent messages would be read by large numbers of visitors.

Standing in the stunning central well of the CSMVS, move your eye upward from the black-and-white marble inlaid flooring, designed after Mughal palace floors. Note the carved marble pillars inspired by Jain temple architecture, and the intricate wooden balcony on the first floor which was part of an 18th century Maratha wada (house) near Nashik before it was relocated to the Museum.

Wittet also designed the sprawling Institute of Science, built concurrently across the road along Wellington Circle, visible in the left bottom corner of this image with its prominent white corner dome. For the Institute, however, the architect argued for a western Renaissance Revival style, as a visual extension of his belief in Science as a 'western' field of knowledge imported to India.

Completing our virtual walk around the Wellington Circle is the Majestic Hotel. The ornate stone building was designed by Ar. W.A. Chambers in 1909 as a luxurious hotel that boasted of the city's very first elevator. Typically for Mumbai, it is now a multi-use structure, housing a hostel for members of the State Legislative Assembly, a supermarket and restaurant.

On June 30, 2018, the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The inscription will serve to protect, enhance and showcase a spectacular massing of 92 historic buildings in 4 significant architectural styles - Victorian Gothic, Indo-Saracenic, Neo-Classical and Art Deco - within a vibrant and living historic city centre, of which Wellington Circle (SP Mukherjee Chowk) is an integral part. Indeed, it is the only site in Mumbai where the 4 architectural styles that visually expressed into 'India's First City' in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, may be seen together, in conversation with each other.

A comprehensive map showcasing each building within Mumbai's World Heritage precinct. The distinct architectural styles are depicted in different colours.