Photo: Pablo Ares Gastesi, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The oldest Zoroastrian temple in Mumbai, built in 1709. It has a fortress-like structure.
Banaji Limji Agiary is the oldest Zoroastrian fire temple in Mumbai, India that was constructed in 1709. The fire was consecrated here by the Parsi businessman Seth Banaji Limji. The temple has a fortress-like structure and non-Parsis are not allowed to enter, as in all Zoroastrian temples. The temple is a Grade II heritage structure. Situated less than a kilometre away from the temple, Maneckji Seth Agiary (1733) is the second-oldest fire temple in Mumbai.
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Flora Fountain is an ornamental fountain dedicated to the Roman Goddess Flora. The walls of the Bombay Fort were demolished in 1862 and the gate leading to the church was replaced by the Flora Fountain in 1864. It was built at a cost of ₹64,000 or £9,000. The Flora Fountain is surrounded by several Victorian-era buildings. In 1960, the square was renamed "Hutatma Chowk" (Martyr's Square) in memory of the people who laid their lives during the birth of the state of Maharashtra. Next to the Flora Fountain stands a stone statue in memory of the martyrs. The statue consists of a pair of martyrs holding a torch.
The massive building of Bombay High Court lies on the northeastern side of the Oval Maidan. It follows the Victorian Neo-Gothic style of architecture and was constructed by Col. James A. Fuller of the Royal Engineers. The building was completed in 1878 and is 562 feet (171 m) long and 187 feet (57 m) wide. The central part of the western side is an elevated section flanked by two octagonal towers. The towers are crowned with the statues of Justice and Mercy. The Bombay High Court is best viewed and photographed from the Oval Maidan.
Completed in 1718, it is the first Anglican church in Mumbai, to improve the "moral standards" of the growing British settlement. One of the gates in the Fort which the East India Company had built to protect their settlement was the entrance to the St. Thomas Church. It was called Churchgate. That is why the whole area towards the West of the Church is called “Churchgate” even today. The church was consecrated a cathedral in July 1837. The tower and the clock at the western end were added in 1838. About 25 years later a major renovation scheme was launched to enlarge the chancel. This was completed by 1865. The cathedral marks colonial Bombay's point zero, the exact centre of the city. Today a plaque at the entrance of the cathedral narrates the history of zero point.
The convocation hall of the University of Mumbai, built between 1869 and 1874. Designed by Londoner Sir George Gilbert Scott who never visited Bombay, the building is named after Cowasji Jehangir Readymoney who funded the construction. The building contains a circular stained glass window at the front with designs of the Zodiac signs, and a semi-circular chancel at the back.
Similar to the Big Ben of London, the tower was built in a fusion of Venetian and Gothic styles. It is built out of the locally available buff-coloured Kurla stone. The tower has one of the best-stained glass windows in the city. The ground floor has two side rooms, each measuring 140 m². The tower forms a carriage porch 2.4 m², and a spiral staircase vestibule of 2.6 m². The tower, over the carriage porch, has a square form up to the gallery at the top of the first level which is at a height of 20.7 m from the ground. The form changes from a square to an octagon and the height from this gallery to the top of the tower is 36 m and the third stage to the top of the finial is 28.7 m, thus making a total height of 85 m. It chimes every 15 minutes. The Rajabai Clock Tower is best viewed and photographed from the Oval Maidan.
A large urban open space in the heart of Mumbai. It covers an area of and is oval in shape and hence the name Oval Maidan. It is a recreational ground with cricket and football being the most popular sports. The ground is also used by morning and evening walkers. The park is maintained by the Oval-Cooperage Residents Association, and all sorts of functions, picnics and political rallies are banned in the park. The park has been fenced off and a jogging track added along the inner periphery. A paved lane cut through the diameter of the ground to facilitate a smoother thoroughfare. On the northern side of the Oval Maidan lies the Western Railway Office. The eastern side is flanked by the Old Secretariat Building, Rajabai Clock Tower of Mumbai University and the Bombay High Court. The eastern side of the Oval Maidan is lined with a series of Art Deco buildings.