The General Post Office, Mumbai, is the central post office of the city of

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The post office handles most of the city's inbound and outbound mail and parcels. Situated in the vicinity of

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), also known sometimes as Victoria Terminus (VT), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The ter ...

, the Mumbai General Post Office (GPO) is a paradigm of

Indo-Saracenic architecture Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal) was a Revivalism (architecture), revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and gov ...

. Mumbai GPO is one of the five Philatelic Bureaus in the country (others being Chennai GPO, Kolkata GPO, Parliament Street, and New Delhi GPO) that are authorised to sell the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

stamps.

The building

The GPO is modelled on the

Gol Gumbaz Gol Gumbaz (), also written Gol Gumbad, is a 17th-century mausoleum located in Bijapur, a city in Karnataka, India. It houses the remains of Mohammad Adil Shah, seventh sultan of the Adil Shahi dynasty, and some of his relatives. Begun in the ...

Bijapur Bijapur (officially Vijayapura) is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural importa ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. It was designed by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

architect

John Begg John Begg (20 September 1866 – 23 February 1937), was a Scottish architect, who practised in London, South Africa and India, before returning to Scotland to teach at Edinburgh College of Art from 1922 to 1933. Life He was born in Bo'ness ...

, a consultant architect to the British government. Begg designed the structure in 1902, and construction began on 1 September 1904. It was completed on 13 March 1913 at a cost of 1,809,000. Black

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

, with a dressing of yellow

Kurla Kurla (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, uɾlaː is a suburb of East Mumbai, India. It is the headquarters of the Kurla taluka of Mumbai Suburban district. The neighbourhood is named after the eponymous Bombay East Indians, East Indian vill ...

stone and white stones from Dhrangdra are the predominant materials used. The building has an area of 120,000 square feet (11,000 m²) and replaced the current Central Telegraph Office at

Flora Fountain Flora Fountain is a Fountain located at the Hutatma Chowk is an ornamentally sculpted architectural heritage monument located at the southern end of the historic Dadabhai Naoroji Road, at the Fort business district in the heart of South Mum ...

as the new GPO. The chief feature of the architecture of this building is an ethereal central hall which rises up to the great dome.

Operations

As the chief post office of the city, the GPO handles huge volumes of mail and passes them on to other post offices in the city. The GPO has the

Postal Index Number A Postal Index Number (PIN; sometimes redundantly a PIN code) refers to a six-digit code in the Indian postal code system used by India Post. On 15 August 2022, the PIN system celebrated its 50th anniversary. History The PIN system was introd ...

(PIN) 400 001. Due to its proximity to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Mumbai's

central station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

, it is ideally situated to dispatch and receive mail to and from other cities in India. It also controls the smaller post offices in Mumbai, issues stamps, and prints new inland letterheads and postcards. It also has a

philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possibl ...

section for enthusiasts.

War memorial

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

plaque commemorating the

Post Office of India The Department of Posts, d/b/a India Post, is an Indian public sector postal system statutory body headquartered in New Delhi, India. It is an organisation under the Ministry of Communications. It is the most widely distributed postal system i ...

employees in the service of the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

who died in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

exists in the building.

GPO construction plaque

This plaque indicates the date of completion of the building in 1913. The total cost was 1,809,000.

References

External links