While walking through the Fort campus of the University of Mumbai, visitors often marvel at the unmistakable silhouettes of Gothic spires piercing the tropical sky. The soaring Rajabai Tower, the ornate Convocation Hall, and the grand Library building seem like European Gothic buildings transplanted onto Indian soil. Yet a closer look reveals something far more complex. These aren’t simply copies; rather they speak of architectural negotiations and tell a fascinating story of cultural adaptation under colonial rule.
When Sir George Gilbert Scott designed these buildings in 1866, he had never set foot in Bombay (now Mumbai). Working from his London office, he sent architectural plans across the ocean, trusting local architects and craftsmen to execute his vision. As a result, what emerged was neither purely European nor traditionally Indian, but something entirely new. The style was “Gothic Revival,” but one that had learned to speak in a local dialect.
The transformation began with materials used. Where European Gothic cathedrals rose from quarried limestone and sandstone, in the Bombay of the late 1800s, Gothic buildings drew from India’s geological palette. Kurla’s golden stone was used to build the primary structures, while Porbandar’s white limestone provided an ornamental contrast to the exteriors. Ratnagiri granite anchored the foundations, and local hardy blue trap stone was deployed for the lower courses of the buildings, including parts of the foundation, that weathered the monsoons beautifully. The only materials that crossed the Arabian Sea from England, to finish off the buildings, were the Minton tiles and some stained glass. Everything else was resolutely local.
But the most intriguing negotiations between local culture and the European aesthetic happened in the realm of symbolism. European Gothic architecture had always been deeply Christian — its every stone carved to tell biblical stories for the largely illiterate congregations. The buildings of the University of Bombay (now the University of Mumbai) retained Gothic’s visual language — such as the pointed arches and rose windows, while carefully editing out its religious and biblical content.
Consider the Convocation Hall’s magnificent rose window, a 20-foot circle of stained glass that dominates the north facade. In European cathedrals, such windows typically depicted Christ surrounded by the 12 apostles or biblical scenes. Here, the twelve signs of the zodiac replace the Christian imagery, transforming the usual religious tableau into something more universally accessible. The building represents Gothic architecture with its theology surgically removed.
The 280-foot Rajabai Tower presents another striking example of cultural translation. Instead of European saints and kings in ornate niches, sculptures representing the 24 castes of Western India adorn the tower. Carved by local sculptors from Porbandar stone, these figures — a praying Parsee, a fierce Rajput with his hand on a sword, a shrewd Kutchi merchant — created a distinctly Indian pantheon using Gothic architectural language and framing.
This Gothic influence wasn’t simply about British architects imposing European styles on Indian craftsmen. The project’s funding came largely from prominent Parsi and Jain philanthropists — Cowasjee Jehangir donated a lakh of rupees for the Convocation Hall, while Premchand Roychand funded the tower named after his mother, Rajabai. These weren’t reluctant subjects accepting imperial architecture, but active participants in creating something that spoke to their own cultural pride while satisfying colonial requirements.
The climate of the city by the sea demanded its own negotiations. Bombay’s humidity and monsoons had no European equivalent, so the architects added covered verandahs, enhanced air circulation, and created shaded walkways. The Library’s reading room ceiling, which in England might have been stone-vaulted, was crafted from local teak wood.
The hybrid architectural language had the advantage of satisfying multiple audiences, simultaneously. British colonial administrators saw Gothic verticality and grandeur that they were familiar with, which projected imperial authority. Local communities found their own faces, materials, and environmental needs reflected in the craftsmanship. Indian philanthropists could take pride in buildings that showcased local culture but within globally recognised architectural forms.
Today, these buildings that have received recognition as UNESCO World Heritage sites, offer lessons about cultural adaptation that extend far beyond architectural practices. They demonstrate how cultural forms rarely transfer unchanged, even in unequal transcultural exchanges, but instead undergo complex processes of negotiation, translation, and reinvention. The University of Mumbai’s Gothic Revival buildings remind us that colonial architecture wasn’t simply imposed from above, but emerged through intricate negotiations between imperial ambitions, local expertise, climatic necessities, and cultural sensitivities. In their soaring spires, teak ceilings, zodiac windows, and sculptures memoralising Indian faces, they embody the complex reality of cultural exchange under colonialism — neither purely European nor traditionally Indian, but something unique and original that has defined the architectural style of Mumbai’s Fort area for centuries.
These buildings continue to function today much as their architects intended, serving as a seat of education while commanding respect through their architectural grandeur. But perhaps their greatest achievement lies in demonstrating how architectural forms can travel, adapt, and acquire new meanings through the creative collaboration of different cultural traditions. In Gothic’s Indian turn, we see not cultural domination, but the remarkable human capacity for architectural improvisation.
Shreya Nithyanandan is a Master’s student in History of Art at the Indian Institute of Heritage, Noida (formerly National Museum Institute). She loves exploring art, culture, stories behind objects, and how history shapes what we see today.
