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Byculla
Byculla
Byculla, Mumbai, India
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Other Projects by Abha Narain Lambah Associates
Byculla
Byculla, Mumbai, India
STATUS
Built
YEAR
1857
SIZE
25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft
BUDGET
$100K - 500K
Byculla Station is the oldest Railway Station in India and Asia. Whereas the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus ( Victoria Terminus), is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site and Bandra and Churchgate stations are popular on the tourist itinerary, surprisingly, the oldest Railway Station – Byculla Railway station seemed forgotten and lay neglected, in the inner city area of Byculla.
Byculla railway station, inaugurated in April 1853, falls on the Bombay -Thana railway line under the Great Indian Peninsula railway. The original station was a wooden structure was constructed in 1857 which was later moved further north to its current location and a stone building was constructed between 1887 to 1891, making it one of the oldest stations in India. Tucked in within a heavily industrial region of Byculla, the station is designed in the Victorian Gothic style of Architecture and has a more local design contextuality as compared to its ornate counterparts. The building is a designated Grade II A heritage structure, under the Heritage Regulations of Greater Mumbai, 1995 (modified in 2012).
Over the years the 135 year old structure had faced deterioration with age, making the building fabric vulnerable to leakages, structural deterioration, peeling plaster, wood deteriorated and neglect with little or no maintenance. Yet, the building continues to function as one of the busiest railway stations on the Central Railway route receiving a high footfall count every day.
Whereas the more touristy railway sites such as Churchgate Station, Bandra Station on the western line are better maintained, Byculla, being in the inner city and virtually the underbelly of Mumbai remained unkempt and unsung. With an effort to correct this, in 2019 the non-government organization ‘I LOVE MUMBAI’ spearheaded by Ms. Shaina NC and conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah decided to volunteer towards saving this historic station that catered to a large section of the inner city population of Mumbai. They decided to develop a citizen funded approach for restoring Byculla railway station and approached Mrs. Minal Bajaj, of the Indian corporate house the Bajaj Group to join them in this initiative to restore India’s oldest railway station. Through a citizen driven conservation project initiated by three women from the city – they convinced the Central Railways to sign a Memorandum of Understanding whereby the railways would allow them to conserve their historic station building and each of these three city entities would contribute towards the restoration of Byculla railway station, the oldest station building in India.
Due to decades of neglect and poor maintenance, the building had water ingress issues which needed to be addressed. The exterior façade was unrecognizable from the original, due to the construction of walls where open verandas had existed. Internal partitions had obliterated the legibility of the historic spaces and ad hoc additions had led to many original doorways being blocked up. Layers of cement had covered up the historic basalt stone masonry and original architectural features had been lost or damaged over time.
The project was envisioned to be a prototype for restoring and upgrading historic station buildings across the country through community support. The project is unique wherein the core goal of the three partners in the joint venture was to give back to the city without seeking any financial benefits. The main goal of this conservation project was to restore the station back to its former glory by removal of ad-hoc interventions that had cluttered the façade and restoring the original architectural integrity of the building. This would allow the historic building fabric and the architectural design features to be legible in an understanding of this historic railway structure. The project also involved a space optimization exercise that would retain the original interior layout of the staff offices but upgrade it with contemporary technological infrastructure.
To restore the 1060 Sq.m area of the historic building, the team submitted a Conservation proposal to the city Heritage Committee and after obtaining requisite permissions, appointed an experienced contractor through an open bid process. The project began towards the autumn of 2019 but soon after the works began on site, there was an outbreak of the global spread of COVID-19 virus and this resulted in an absolute LOCKDOWN in March 2020.
With a complete lockdown for nearly 6 months in the Pandemic, and soon followed by another outbreak in 2021, everybody expected the project to be abandoned. However, this turned the project into a unique initiative of civic responsibility wherein at a time when an unprecedented exodus of poor migrant labour out of the city was happening following the panic of the pandemic and lockdown, and all trains and railway services were immediately halted and suspended for months, the once bustling train station turned into a unique labour camp for the 100 migrant labourers who were working on the conservation works. For the months of the pandemic when the train stations wore a ghost like abandoned look, the Byculla station became home to the migrant labourers and their families. They found shelter, food and livelihood as the Contractor Mobin Chishty of QCPL Radix gave them food, pay and shelter to continue working on the building restoration. Initially through video calling and whatsapp video calls, the Conservation Architect continued to monitor the site works through the initial month of lockdown and finally the architects and engineer got a special pass to visit site and monitor conservation works.
Thus, at a time when millions of migrant labour was forced to leave the city of Mumbai in the pandemic and walk across hundreds of miles towards their home villages, the workforce of Byculla Station continued to work on the conservation of this heritage building. In an otherwise bustling railway station with a half million person daily footfall, to have worked patiently on the stone cleaning or restoration would have been a chaotic activity. The pandemic allowed for the work to happen without any disturbance, as the pandemic lockdown suspended all train activity and the in-house labour force and craftsmen continued to work patiently restoring the basalt stone, polishing the old Burma teak wood and peeling the layers of paint from the historic cast iron.
After a series of lockdowns of the pandemic, the project was finally completed in December 2021 at a total cost of Rs. 4,00,00,000 or $5,00,000. The project is an example of a citizen driven public-private partnership collaboration with the community and migrant labourers playing an active part in the successful completion of the project.
B: Description of the cultural heritage property
The description of the cultural heritage property should include:
- Historical background of the property
- Articulation of the property’s overall cultural significance and heritage values such as historical, social, cultural, architectural and other values (please see guidelines for explanation)
- Use of the property
- Heritage protection status of the property
Max. 1500 words
Historical background of the property
The neighbourhood of Byculla was once inhabited by local indigenous fisherfolk and was an extension to Mazagaon, one of the original seven Salsette islands that formed Bombay. The area was a low-lying flat and the sea poured into this area at high tide through the Great Breach at Mahalaxmi located west of Byculla. In 1784 Hornby Vellard decided to bund the Great Breach along with the completion of Sion causeway towards the north (1805) and Colaba causeway towards the south (1838). This bunding made large swaths of land available for habitation and in the nineteenth century Byculla grew into a prosperous and elegant suburb with grand houses and race courses. However, the shift of the racecourse to Mahalaxmi and an onset of the dreadful plague drove Britishers and wealthy Indians out of Byculla.
In the 19th Century with the failure of American cotton crop in 1846 and the American Civil War, British textile manufactures in Glasgow and Manchester realize the importance of seeking alternative markets in colonial India. At the same time, the opening of the Suez Canal allowed for shorter travel time from India to Great Britain. These events were especially significant for Bombay as it was a trading port with a natural deep-sea harbour. The growing demand for cotton urged the British government to expedite the sanction of funds for the development of railways in India. In 1849, The Great Indian Peninsula and East Indian Railway Companies were incorporated by Acts of British Parliament and the East India Company signed contracts forthwith with both companies. Nineteenth century Colonial Bombay saw a series of interventions that reinforced the city’s civic amenities and networks. The British government focused on achieving this mammoth task of undertaking a comprehensive development of the island of Bombay by modernizing means of transportation and establishing civic institutions.
Following this after the mid-1800s, Byculla turned out to be a prime area for large textile mills which brought large numbers of middle-class mill workers back into the region. These historical events have made Byculla into a culturally rich and diverse area with a mix of heritage structures like Victorian gardens, churches, synagogues, temples and mausoleums. The advent of railways propelled the cultural diversity within this region with people from various background residing in harmony.
In 1853, the first 21 miles of rail tracks were laid between Bombay and Thana and thousands of citizens had lined the railway tracks to witness a new phenomenon the first ag-gadi or ‘carriage of fire’ that is the steam locomotive engine. The first locomotive was brought to Bombay through the streets of Byculla pulled by over 200 labourers. This powerful new technology would shape the trade and commerce of Bombay in the coming years making it the financial capital of the British Crown. The railways continue to be the lifeline of the city providing quick transportation and connectivity for the residents of Mumbai. The railways in Mumbai are an excellent example of successful mass transportation infrastructure.
Within this historic and diverse context, Byculla railway station is centrally located within the area to provide ease of access and connectivity for its residents. Byculla railway station, inaugurated in April 1853, falls on the Bombay - Thana railway line under the Great Indian Peninsula railway. The original station was a wooden shed-like structure constructed in 1857 with just a wooden platform. Later the station was moved further north to its current location and a permanent building was constructed between 1887 to 1891, making it one of the oldest stations in India and Asia. The building is designed in a modified Bombay Gothic style of architecture which is an adaptation of the Victorian Gothic. The building identifies itself with a larger network of railway station buildings that were built in Bombay and around India at the time.
The restoration of this local landmark building was significant to reinforce the idea that heritage sites belong to the citizens on contrary to the common notion of heritage being elitist. Such projects have the potential to re-view and re-engage the local residents and to re-interpret their heritage. Democratic heritage sites like railway stations also enhance the sense of pride and belonging.
Articulation of the property’s overall cultural significance and heritage values such as historical, social, cultural, architectural and other values Byculla Station is Asia’s oldest railway station building and thus has immense cultural and historical significance as a railway structure, as well as its social and cultural significance as the lifeline of the inner city neighbourhood of Byculla. The building is set back from the main street with a cast iron porch and stone façade. In a manner evocative of tropical colonial architecture, the historic station building is a linear structure with a long verandah that runs along the entire length of the west facade. This architectural feature provided ventilation and minimized the heat. The station platform is along the east side of the building and station offices are located in between the verandah and platform. All interior hall spaces were double height with ventilators located at the top to circulate the hot air. Historically, the platform was accessed through a centrally located three-arched hallway which also had a ticket window. The building is designed with load bearing construction technique and has pointed Gothic arches to frame fenestrations and semi-circular arched to frame large space openings. The arches and openings are made in basalt stone. The load bearing basalt stone walls are atleast 650mm wide and provide thermal insultation to the interior spaces. The sloping roof over the main station building is supported on teak wood king post trusses.
The historic building had undergone a series of interventions and yet it retained a significant amount of the original building fabric. During the process of restoration, hidden architectural elements original to the building were revealed that added of the architectural and building material authenticity of the site. In the process of restoration most of the building’s original fabric has been retained and the new interventions are sensitive to the historic fabric. The conservation of has further reinforced the structural integrity of the building.
The architectural description
The exterior of the building had a distinctive exposed grey basalt stone façade with basalt stone used to frame arched openings. The basalt stone was locally quarried and is typically referred to as Kurla Basalt stone. The historic station building had a sloping roof covered with corrugated galvanized iron roofing sheets. The sloping roof has a large overhang that is supported on carved wooden brackets attached to the exposed stone exterior wall. The verandah has a low sloped lean-to double roof with a double level roof. The upper level verandah roof is supported on cast iron posts supported on basalt stone walls; and cast iron railings are inserted in-between the posts. The lower level verandah roof was supported on carved wooden brackets attached to the cast iron posts.
The historic ticket window had a high wood panelled counter with a marble top and decorative cast iron ticket window grill inscribed with the initials GIPR (Great Indian Peninsula railway). The entire ticket window was inset within a pointed Gothic arch and a coloured glass fanlight. All door, windows and ventilators had teak wood frames. The fanlights had traces of coloured glass and the doors have decorative quatrefoil panelling.
Protection status and Use:
The building is a designated Grade II A heritage structure, under the Heritage Regulations of Greater Mumbai, 1995 (modified in 2012). The oldest railway station in India, the building continues to function as one of the busiest railway stations on the Central Railway route receiving a high footfall count everyday.
Byculla railway station, inaugurated in April 1853, falls on the Bombay -Thana railway line under the Great Indian Peninsula railway. The original station was a wooden structure was constructed in 1857 which was later moved further north to its current location and a stone building was constructed between 1887 to 1891, making it one of the oldest stations in India. Tucked in within a heavily industrial region of Byculla, the station is designed in the Victorian Gothic style of Architecture and has a more local design contextuality as compared to its ornate counterparts. The building is a designated Grade II A heritage structure, under the Heritage Regulations of Greater Mumbai, 1995 (modified in 2012).
Over the years the 135 year old structure had faced deterioration with age, making the building fabric vulnerable to leakages, structural deterioration, peeling plaster, wood deteriorated and neglect with little or no maintenance. Yet, the building continues to function as one of the busiest railway stations on the Central Railway route receiving a high footfall count every day.
Whereas the more touristy railway sites such as Churchgate Station, Bandra Station on the western line are better maintained, Byculla, being in the inner city and virtually the underbelly of Mumbai remained unkempt and unsung. With an effort to correct this, in 2019 the non-government organization ‘I LOVE MUMBAI’ spearheaded by Ms. Shaina NC and conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah decided to volunteer towards saving this historic station that catered to a large section of the inner city population of Mumbai. They decided to develop a citizen funded approach for restoring Byculla railway station and approached Mrs. Minal Bajaj, of the Indian corporate house the Bajaj Group to join them in this initiative to restore India’s oldest railway station. Through a citizen driven conservation project initiated by three women from the city – they convinced the Central Railways to sign a Memorandum of Understanding whereby the railways would allow them to conserve their historic station building and each of these three city entities would contribute towards the restoration of Byculla railway station, the oldest station building in India.
Due to decades of neglect and poor maintenance, the building had water ingress issues which needed to be addressed. The exterior façade was unrecognizable from the original, due to the construction of walls where open verandas had existed. Internal partitions had obliterated the legibility of the historic spaces and ad hoc additions had led to many original doorways being blocked up. Layers of cement had covered up the historic basalt stone masonry and original architectural features had been lost or damaged over time.
The project was envisioned to be a prototype for restoring and upgrading historic station buildings across the country through community support. The project is unique wherein the core goal of the three partners in the joint venture was to give back to the city without seeking any financial benefits. The main goal of this conservation project was to restore the station back to its former glory by removal of ad-hoc interventions that had cluttered the façade and restoring the original architectural integrity of the building. This would allow the historic building fabric and the architectural design features to be legible in an understanding of this historic railway structure. The project also involved a space optimization exercise that would retain the original interior layout of the staff offices but upgrade it with contemporary technological infrastructure.
To restore the 1060 Sq.m area of the historic building, the team submitted a Conservation proposal to the city Heritage Committee and after obtaining requisite permissions, appointed an experienced contractor through an open bid process. The project began towards the autumn of 2019 but soon after the works began on site, there was an outbreak of the global spread of COVID-19 virus and this resulted in an absolute LOCKDOWN in March 2020.
With a complete lockdown for nearly 6 months in the Pandemic, and soon followed by another outbreak in 2021, everybody expected the project to be abandoned. However, this turned the project into a unique initiative of civic responsibility wherein at a time when an unprecedented exodus of poor migrant labour out of the city was happening following the panic of the pandemic and lockdown, and all trains and railway services were immediately halted and suspended for months, the once bustling train station turned into a unique labour camp for the 100 migrant labourers who were working on the conservation works. For the months of the pandemic when the train stations wore a ghost like abandoned look, the Byculla station became home to the migrant labourers and their families. They found shelter, food and livelihood as the Contractor Mobin Chishty of QCPL Radix gave them food, pay and shelter to continue working on the building restoration. Initially through video calling and whatsapp video calls, the Conservation Architect continued to monitor the site works through the initial month of lockdown and finally the architects and engineer got a special pass to visit site and monitor conservation works.
Thus, at a time when millions of migrant labour was forced to leave the city of Mumbai in the pandemic and walk across hundreds of miles towards their home villages, the workforce of Byculla Station continued to work on the conservation of this heritage building. In an otherwise bustling railway station with a half million person daily footfall, to have worked patiently on the stone cleaning or restoration would have been a chaotic activity. The pandemic allowed for the work to happen without any disturbance, as the pandemic lockdown suspended all train activity and the in-house labour force and craftsmen continued to work patiently restoring the basalt stone, polishing the old Burma teak wood and peeling the layers of paint from the historic cast iron.
After a series of lockdowns of the pandemic, the project was finally completed in December 2021 at a total cost of Rs. 4,00,00,000 or $5,00,000. The project is an example of a citizen driven public-private partnership collaboration with the community and migrant labourers playing an active part in the successful completion of the project.
B: Description of the cultural heritage property
The description of the cultural heritage property should include:
- Historical background of the property
- Articulation of the property’s overall cultural significance and heritage values such as historical, social, cultural, architectural and other values (please see guidelines for explanation)
- Use of the property
- Heritage protection status of the property
Max. 1500 words
Historical background of the property
The neighbourhood of Byculla was once inhabited by local indigenous fisherfolk and was an extension to Mazagaon, one of the original seven Salsette islands that formed Bombay. The area was a low-lying flat and the sea poured into this area at high tide through the Great Breach at Mahalaxmi located west of Byculla. In 1784 Hornby Vellard decided to bund the Great Breach along with the completion of Sion causeway towards the north (1805) and Colaba causeway towards the south (1838). This bunding made large swaths of land available for habitation and in the nineteenth century Byculla grew into a prosperous and elegant suburb with grand houses and race courses. However, the shift of the racecourse to Mahalaxmi and an onset of the dreadful plague drove Britishers and wealthy Indians out of Byculla.
In the 19th Century with the failure of American cotton crop in 1846 and the American Civil War, British textile manufactures in Glasgow and Manchester realize the importance of seeking alternative markets in colonial India. At the same time, the opening of the Suez Canal allowed for shorter travel time from India to Great Britain. These events were especially significant for Bombay as it was a trading port with a natural deep-sea harbour. The growing demand for cotton urged the British government to expedite the sanction of funds for the development of railways in India. In 1849, The Great Indian Peninsula and East Indian Railway Companies were incorporated by Acts of British Parliament and the East India Company signed contracts forthwith with both companies. Nineteenth century Colonial Bombay saw a series of interventions that reinforced the city’s civic amenities and networks. The British government focused on achieving this mammoth task of undertaking a comprehensive development of the island of Bombay by modernizing means of transportation and establishing civic institutions.
Following this after the mid-1800s, Byculla turned out to be a prime area for large textile mills which brought large numbers of middle-class mill workers back into the region. These historical events have made Byculla into a culturally rich and diverse area with a mix of heritage structures like Victorian gardens, churches, synagogues, temples and mausoleums. The advent of railways propelled the cultural diversity within this region with people from various background residing in harmony.
In 1853, the first 21 miles of rail tracks were laid between Bombay and Thana and thousands of citizens had lined the railway tracks to witness a new phenomenon the first ag-gadi or ‘carriage of fire’ that is the steam locomotive engine. The first locomotive was brought to Bombay through the streets of Byculla pulled by over 200 labourers. This powerful new technology would shape the trade and commerce of Bombay in the coming years making it the financial capital of the British Crown. The railways continue to be the lifeline of the city providing quick transportation and connectivity for the residents of Mumbai. The railways in Mumbai are an excellent example of successful mass transportation infrastructure.
Within this historic and diverse context, Byculla railway station is centrally located within the area to provide ease of access and connectivity for its residents. Byculla railway station, inaugurated in April 1853, falls on the Bombay - Thana railway line under the Great Indian Peninsula railway. The original station was a wooden shed-like structure constructed in 1857 with just a wooden platform. Later the station was moved further north to its current location and a permanent building was constructed between 1887 to 1891, making it one of the oldest stations in India and Asia. The building is designed in a modified Bombay Gothic style of architecture which is an adaptation of the Victorian Gothic. The building identifies itself with a larger network of railway station buildings that were built in Bombay and around India at the time.
The restoration of this local landmark building was significant to reinforce the idea that heritage sites belong to the citizens on contrary to the common notion of heritage being elitist. Such projects have the potential to re-view and re-engage the local residents and to re-interpret their heritage. Democratic heritage sites like railway stations also enhance the sense of pride and belonging.
Articulation of the property’s overall cultural significance and heritage values such as historical, social, cultural, architectural and other values Byculla Station is Asia’s oldest railway station building and thus has immense cultural and historical significance as a railway structure, as well as its social and cultural significance as the lifeline of the inner city neighbourhood of Byculla. The building is set back from the main street with a cast iron porch and stone façade. In a manner evocative of tropical colonial architecture, the historic station building is a linear structure with a long verandah that runs along the entire length of the west facade. This architectural feature provided ventilation and minimized the heat. The station platform is along the east side of the building and station offices are located in between the verandah and platform. All interior hall spaces were double height with ventilators located at the top to circulate the hot air. Historically, the platform was accessed through a centrally located three-arched hallway which also had a ticket window. The building is designed with load bearing construction technique and has pointed Gothic arches to frame fenestrations and semi-circular arched to frame large space openings. The arches and openings are made in basalt stone. The load bearing basalt stone walls are atleast 650mm wide and provide thermal insultation to the interior spaces. The sloping roof over the main station building is supported on teak wood king post trusses.
The historic building had undergone a series of interventions and yet it retained a significant amount of the original building fabric. During the process of restoration, hidden architectural elements original to the building were revealed that added of the architectural and building material authenticity of the site. In the process of restoration most of the building’s original fabric has been retained and the new interventions are sensitive to the historic fabric. The conservation of has further reinforced the structural integrity of the building.
The architectural description
The exterior of the building had a distinctive exposed grey basalt stone façade with basalt stone used to frame arched openings. The basalt stone was locally quarried and is typically referred to as Kurla Basalt stone. The historic station building had a sloping roof covered with corrugated galvanized iron roofing sheets. The sloping roof has a large overhang that is supported on carved wooden brackets attached to the exposed stone exterior wall. The verandah has a low sloped lean-to double roof with a double level roof. The upper level verandah roof is supported on cast iron posts supported on basalt stone walls; and cast iron railings are inserted in-between the posts. The lower level verandah roof was supported on carved wooden brackets attached to the cast iron posts.
The historic ticket window had a high wood panelled counter with a marble top and decorative cast iron ticket window grill inscribed with the initials GIPR (Great Indian Peninsula railway). The entire ticket window was inset within a pointed Gothic arch and a coloured glass fanlight. All door, windows and ventilators had teak wood frames. The fanlights had traces of coloured glass and the doors have decorative quatrefoil panelling.
Protection status and Use:
The building is a designated Grade II A heritage structure, under the Heritage Regulations of Greater Mumbai, 1995 (modified in 2012). The oldest railway station in India, the building continues to function as one of the busiest railway stations on the Central Railway route receiving a high footfall count everyday.
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