Rajabai Clock Tower, Mumbai

[adhishvelu]

image hosted on flickr



Rajabai Tower is essentially a majestic clock tower in South Mumbai. Located in the precincts of Mumbai University in Fort Campus, right next to the High Court, Rajabai Tower is a beautiful structure, ornamented with oriental figures. Its history reveals that it was designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, who was an English architect. Rajabai Tower was built on the lines of Big Ben, the clock tower in London. Elevated to the height of 85 m (280 ft), the tower took around 9 years to get constructed (1869 -1878).

Premchand Roychand, a successful broker who founded the Bombay Stock Exchange, financed the entire cost of construction that was Rs 200,000 - a substantial amount in those days. The clock tower owes its name to Rajabai - mother of the generous broker who was blind and a staunch follower of Jainism. Thanks to the bell of this tower, she didn't require anyone's help to know the time and she could herself take her dinner before evening, on the word of her religion.

Presenting a fusion of Venetian and Gothic styles of architecture, Rajabai Tower is constructed out of Kurla stone - the locally available buff colored stone. In the earlier times, it played the tunes of 'Rule Britannia', 'God Save the King' and 'A Handel Symphony', amongst the sixteen tunes that changed four times a day. However, the glockenspiel repertoire currently plays only 'Big Ben', after every fifteen minutes.

The tower has a spiral staircase, but is closed to the visitors due to some sad incidents. Rajabai Tower houses the library of the University, which has some of the brilliant stained glass windows in Asia. Recently treated by the British conservationists, these exquisite windows have been reinstated with their grandeur. In a nutshell, Rajabai Tower is a spectacular structure that is a standing testimony to the transformation of the Mumbai as well as India, and is worth visiting.

http://www.mumbai.org.uk/rajbai-tower.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mumbaip...n/photostream/

[adhishvelu]

Structure

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 56 × 27.5 ft (17 × 8.5 m). The tower forms a carriage porch 2.4 m² (26 ft²), and a spiral staircase vestibule of 2.6 m² (28 ft²). 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 68 feet (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 118 feet (36 m) and the third stage to the top of the finial is 94 feet (28.7 m), thus making a total height of 280 feet (85 m).
During its time, it was the tallest structure in the city of Mumbai.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajabai_Tower#Structure

[adhishvelu]

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenliff...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lifeina...n/photostream/

[IndiansUnite]

TCS to fund Mumbai university tower revamp

MUMBAI: Tata Consultancy Services pledged a gift of Rs 4.2 crore to the University of Mumbai for repairs and restoration of the university's Rajabai clock tower and library.

On Monday afternoon, the university and the I-T firm signed a memorandum at the Raj Bhavan. The Indian Heritage Society has been roped in to carry out the restoration. CEO and MD N Chandrasekaran said, "The Rajabai Clock Tower and Library is an iconic architectural landmark of south Mumbai and TCS is proud to work with the Indian Heritage Society to completely restore this heritage structure to its original glory."

The funding will go towards restoring the library, located at the base of tower and also altering its avatar and making it a hi-tech one which houses a collection of rare books. Univ officials said the makeover plan will involve strengthening the structure, cleaning the stones and consolidating them, repairing the damaged portions and removing the biological growth all over the structure.

TCS will fund the project to the tune of Rs.4.20 crore, which includes the restoration of Mumbai Library, located at the base of the tower. The objective is to make the conventional library into a hi-tech one which houses a collection of rare books. The architectural restoration of the library and tower will be done by Brinda Somaya. The make-over plan of the structure will involve strengthening the structure; stone cleaning and consolidation; repairing the damaged parts of the structure; removal of biological growth and upgrading the services.
Source

[adam_india]

Are there any pictures from inside? It would be interesting to see them. Never seen them. Would give an idea of how well maintained it is.

[ahiliya fernandes]

The Rajabai Clock Tower is a clock tower in South Mumbai, India. It is located in the confines of the Fort campus of the University of Mumbai. The tower stands at a height of 85 m (280 ft). The Rajabai tower was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, an English architect. He modeled it on Big Ben, the clock tower of the UK houses of Parliament in London. The foundation stone was laid on March 1, 1869 and construction was completed in November 1878. The total cost of construction came to Rs. 2 lakhs (Rs. 200,000), a princely sum in those days. This entire cost was defrayed by Premchand Roychand, a prosperous broker who founded the Bombay Stock Exchange on the condition that the tower be named after his mother Rajabai. Premchand Roychand's mother was blind and as a staunch follower of Jain religion she was supposed to consume her dinner before evening. The evening bell of the tower helped her to know the time without anyone's help. The tower was closed to the public after it became a frequent spot for those attempting to commit suicide.