Of Heritage and History: Bombay’s Flora Fountain

Tucked amidst the hustle-bustle of South Bombay, Flora fountain spills a century’s worth of heritage and history.

Flora Fountain, Pre WW I; Source: Wikimedia Commons

Flora Fountain is one of Bombay’s many oddities. Located between the city’s busy lanes choked by vehicles, this 19th-century structure — complete with winking maidens, twenty lion heads, and larger-than-life fish — would almost seem out of place. However, with a tumultuous imperial past, such remnants have become a cherished part of the city.

Built-in 1864, this 7-feet-tall fountain was originally meant to deck the pathways of Victoria Gardens. During this time, colonial Bombay was the empire’s crown jewel. This meant new arrivals — from businessmen to traders — were coming into the port city more than ever.

To make room for this in the city, the then Governor, Sir Bartle Frère, ordered the demolition of Old Mumbai Fort. Soon, its three gates were torn down, and in place of Church Gate, the fountain was installed, tying into the area’s new commercial buildings that flaunted Neoclassical and Gothic Revival designs.

Flora, the Roman Goddess of Spring perched atop the structure, would later give the fountain its name. But in the early days, the edifice was commonly called the Frere Fountain.

Designed by Richard Norman Shaw, a famously eclectic British architect, Flora fountain was made out of Portland stone and was patronised by the Agri-Horticultural Society of Western India. At the time, it cost £9000 to commission it, nearly half of which came as donation from a wealthy Parsi businessman.

This heady mix of characters is what is seen in the fountain today. While much of the style is European, its Indo-Saracenic influence like the 20 lion heads symmetrically placed on its edges, became something of a symbol for Bombay’s bold new identity, one whose cosmopolitanism became harder to ignore. At the base, four sculptures can be seen depicting India’s cereal and grains — a nod to the Horticultural society for whom the statue was made.

After independence, Mumbai’s own revolutionary history would also be memorialised here. In 1955, the fountain witnessed the tragic firing which killed 15 protesters during the Samyukta Maharashtra movement. Six years after this, the Hutatma Chowk memorial was added to the fountain, martyring those who lost their lives in the fight for a new Maharashtra state.

In its early days, it’s believed the fountain even stirred up New York’s most elite circles. In fact, the Scientific American magazine in 1871 called it “one of those rare works which captivate the artistic eye," coupled with a full-page cover photo of the fountain, writing how it “wells up like a natural spring, the sound of which must be refreshing in a hot climate like that of Bombay".

Sadly, over time, the structure fell victim to the same grime, soot, and decay that plagued many of Mumbai’s heritage structures. Luckily in 2017, the fountain was picked up by the municipality for restoration and brought back its days of glory, when its white oil paint gleamed relentlessly.

Even today, many pass by this historic fountain at the southern end of the Dadabhai Naoroji Road each morning. To them, age-old structures like this are what makes Mumbai so dynamic — and with the city’s restoration efforts, their future looks brighter than ever.