Thursday, May 16, 2013

Maharashtra Police Headquarters, Mumbai

The present headquarters of Maharashtra Police in Mumbai is a heritage structure at Colaba close to Gateway of India. They moved into this place in the year 1982. 



Prior to that this heritage structure was known by the name Royal Alfred Sailors Home and it was built to accommodate seamen. Its construction was initiated by Maharaja Khanderao Gaekwad of Baroda  and completed in 1872. This 270 feet long and 58 feet Gothic structure was architected by Stevens and built using blue basalt stone. The roof is covered by red Mangalore tiles.



But when one passes in front of this structure that catches everyone's attention is magnificent sculpture of Neptune in the top portion. This sculptures were crafted by students of the J J School of Art under the supervision of John Lockwood Kipling, a Professor of Architecture.



Neptune, the Roman God of the sea, is seated in a shell surrounded by mythical creatures, sea horses in the waves of water.  On either corners are well crafted sea lions looking in opposite directions.

29 comments:

Cloudia said...

A gem!
Namaste

Vineeta Yashsavi said...

Very informative post with nice photography...

rupam sarma said...

Great photos,Thanks for the post.

Lowell said...

This is absolutely stunning. Fantastic architecture and sculptures. Love the Neptune sculpture and the sea lions. I must say I've never seen a police station quite like this one; heck, I've never seen a police station close to this one. Amazing. I wonder if the cops give tours? Without someone being arrested, I mean! :)

Anonymous said...

wow - that's quite a building!

Jeevan said...

Wonderful shots and detail on the heritage!

krishna said...

another awesome and informative post from you.. nice...

Sylvia K said...

Terrific captures of a magnificent building, Rajesh! I'm always amazed by your very pale skies!! Have a great weekend!

http://graceolsson.com/blog said...

Nobody shows India better than you
Congrats

eileeninmd said...

It is a beautiful building, love the details. Great shots!

Photo Cache said...

I like the look of the taxis. They're cute.

Jim said...

Very fancy for the police.

Rakesh Vanamali said...

A fabulous edifice indeed.

And what brilliant shots, as always! :-)

Leovi said...

Nice pictures, beautiful palace!

Ranjana's craft blog said...

Sculpture of Neptune is very interesting. Keep posting about such interesting places. :)

R Niranjan Das said...

Nice captures. The architecture looks wonderful.

http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in/2013/05/juhu-beach.html

Anonymous said...

indeed a majestic building.

LV said...

You live in a land with so much to see and enjoy that is very interesting. So glad you share them with us.

George said...

What a magnificent old building! The sculpture of Neptune is beautiful, as is all the ornamentation of this building.

Saru Singhal said...

Beautiful and the work is remarkable. Thanks for sharing.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Beautiful building and carvings, with a very interesting history.

Are those police cars in the foreground of the first picture or taxis?

Carver said...

Wonderful details of the art on the architecture.

Rajesh said...

Thank you all for appreciation. Those cars on the road are taxis.

MyMaracas said...

Marvelous details on that building.

Anonymous said...

That is an amazing sculpture!

RNSANE said...

Though I spent four months in Mumbai my first time in India, I only got to the Taj for cocktails one night and walked around the Gateway of India....didn't visit the police station. I'm expecting to spend six months there this time ( arrive the 3rd of June ) so I'll definitely go by the police station at some point....not as an inmate, though.

My Mellow Yellows is at:

http://rnsane.blogspot.com/2013/05/monday-mellow-yellows-yellow-san.html#links

lencilicious said...

Nice shots you have here.

Khoty Mathur said...

The headquarters do the police proud. Enjoyed your story about the sculpture on top. Aamchi Mumbai.

AmitAag said...

Nicely captured!