A flashback through Mumbai heritage

With the Royal Opera House getting the UNESCO heritage award, we take a look at the different heritage sites around the city that deserve to be on the list.

Looking through an antique photograph has one wishing to be transported back in time. Soaked in ochre shades from the past, a unique sense of nostalgia takes over one. Old photographs of several different locations scattered across the city are available aplenty. From visuals dated to over a century ago such as the Elphinstone Circle, the old station at Colaba, and the Crawford Market, among other destinations, simply looking at these spaces ignites a curiosity like no other.

A heritage structure that was until a year ago a part of these antique photographs, the Royal Opera House, whose construction began in 1909, was awarded the UNESCO World Heritage award just earlier this week. A structure dating back the colonial era, it is renowned for its exquisite Baroque design with pure Italian marble.

What used to be a home to melodious opera evenings and saw movie dialogues thundering through its corridors, the Opera House saw a decline through the ’80s and the ’90s following the success of VCRS, home theatres (and of course, piracy). And so, the structure became one of the theatre spaces that shut shop.

After being a derelict for over two decades, it was refurbished and eventually restored. Following which, it was awarded the UNESCO heritage award.

Beautiful though the structure is, it is not the only one in the city that could be on the list.

The Bombay High Court

On being asked, the question puts contemporary poet and cultural theorist Ranjit Hoskote in a fix. “The city has so many sites that it is frankly difficult to name one,” he says. After a thoughtful pause of a few seconds, he nominates the Town Hall that was built back in 1833.

Before solicitor and postcard collector Rajan Jayakar nominates an architectural marvel that he thinks should be on the list, he takes a minute out to applaud the restoration of the Royal Opera House. “As far as my knowledge goes, there is no Baroque-style building in the city. The building has been beautifully restored by conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah and deserves to be on the list,” he says. He even goes on to explain how this kind of nomination works. “To be on such a heritage list, there is a certain procedure that needs to be followed,” he begins.

“When the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus was given the heritage award, one had to fill out an application and even maintain the building. Just because a structure is old, doesn’t automatically get it on the list — it needs to be nominated. One has to approach the central government for a nomination like this,” he explains. While he adds that it is important that the structure be in pristine condition when being nominated, Rajan chooses the Asiatic Library and the Bombay High Court for the heritage tag.

Committee member at Kala Ghoda Association, Brinda Miller adds. “I was impressed by the incredible restoration of the Isamil Building for the Zara store; maybe that could be on the list,” she muses. “At the same time, I believe that the Asiatic Library deserves to be awarded the heritage award,” she says.

Even while the Asiatic Library and the Town Hall remain to be a favourite, Ranjit also believes that the Jehangir Art Gallery could be a perfect candidate.