The Asiatic Society of Mumbai Town Hall or Town Hall Mumbai is a neoclassical building located in the

Fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

locality of

South Mumbai South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Anglo-Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahim and Sion neighbour ...

. It houses

The Asiatic Society of Mumbai The Asiatic Society of Mumbai (formerly ''Asiatic Society of Bombay'') is a learned society in the field of Asian studies based in Mumbai, India. It can trace its origin to the Literary Society of Bombay which first met in Mumbai on 26 November 18 ...

, State Central Library and a museum, the head office of the Directorate of Libraries Maharashtra State, Maharashtra State Women's Council, the Additional Controller of Stamps Office and a post office.

History

In 1811, the plan for construction began. Initially, the construction of the town hall (colloquially Called "Tondal" in the 19th century) could not be completed because of the lack of funds; only the library and museum were built after raising an amount of Rs.10,000 through a lottery conducted by the 'Literary Society of Bombay' (Mumbai). Construction was eventually completed in 1833.

Architecture

The building was designed by Colonel Thomas Cowper of the Bombay Engineers. The architectural style of the building is

Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

that came into existence in the 18th century.

Structure

The structure has a height of 100 feet and a span of 200 feet. It was inspired by Greek and Roman styles of architecture. There is a flight of 30 steps leading to the entrance of the Town Hall. The entrance of the building is adorned with a Grecian portico and eight Doric styled pillars. The entire construction was made of stones brought from England and was designed in a Neo-classical fashion. Within the building are wooden floors, spiral staircases, and terraces adorned with wrought iron. The hall boasts of a collection of marble statues of Indian patrons of the 19th century. There is also a flagpole on the building on which the

Indian National Flag The national flag of India, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the ', a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present form ...

is hoisted on the 15th of August and 26th of January, every year.

Significance

The Asiatic Society of Mumbai Town Hall is a classified heritage structure. Sir John Malcolm, Governor of Mumbai in 1930 said, "It is the most magnificent structure that taste and munificence combined have as yet erected in India". There are many ancient manuscripts in Persian, Prakrit, Urdu and Sanskrit along with other treasures preserved in the hall.

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

's first issue of

Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * Inferno (1973 fi ...

is one of the treasures kept at the town hall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asiatic Society of Mumbai Town Hall Government buildings in Mumbai Neoclassical architecture in India 1833 establishments in India Tourist attractions in Mumbai