Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus)
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) Station,Mumbai formerly known as Victoria Terminus Station is an an historic railway station and exceptional instance of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture in India The CST Mumbai serves as the headquarters of the Central Railways. The Victoria Terminus designed by a British architect F. W. Stevens, turn out to be the sign of Bombay as the Gothic City and the foremost global commercial harbor of India. The construction started in 1878 and it took over 10 years to build Victoria terminal.
Victoria Terminus to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
In 1996, in comeback to demands by the people Mumbai and some cultural organisations and Indian policy of renaming places with Indian names, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai station was renamed by the government of Mumbai after Maratha Sardar Chatrapati Shivaji- a well-known 17th century King. In 2004 the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station was selected as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
Architecture of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus combines Indian traditional architecture with Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. Its extraordinary stone auditorium, towers, pointed doorways and unconventional ground plan are close to customary Indian fortress architecture. It is an exceptional instance of the meeting of two cultures- as British architects worked with Indian craftsmen.
