Ode To A Monument

In this bustling urban hub of undulating skylines, modern chrome-and-glass skyscrapers and make-shift tenements, the steadfast silhouette and incredible artistry of the Rajabai Clock Tower (constructed between 1869-1878) stand apart. As an iconic landmark of Mumbai, the design element added by the illumination now, even more than before, makes it a reminder of the vital function that art and architecture fulfil in elevating the human spirit.

A testament to the enduring love of a son for his mother, the tower was commissioned and entirely funded by Premchand Roychand, a city broker and founder of the Bombay Stock Exchange (originally called Native Share and Stock Brokers Association), as a tribute to his mother Rajabai. According to city lore, Roychand’s elderly mother, a strict follower of Jainism, would sup only before sunset. The evening chimes of the clock tower enabled Rajabai to calculate the time without help as she was visually impaired.

Located in the Fort campus of Mumbai University, right across the Oval Maidan, the 85-metre-tall construction is part of the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai, a collection that was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. Built with four different types of stone and Minton tile flooring, the 19ᵗʰ-century edifice with its Burma teak and rosewood structures, intricate stone carvings, colourful stained-glass windows and manicured lawns is like a beacon of hope and an homage to love in a concrete jungle.

For those who may denigrate all things colonial, including some of the Raj’s aesthetic contributions, I would like to point out the tower’s Indian roots. Although it was designed by English architect Sir George Gilbert Scott who, in fact, never visited India, the actual construction was supervised by an Indian civil engineer, Rao Bahadur Mukund Ramchandar. And while the stunning stone carvings of Indian people and their attire were crafted under the supervision of John Lockwood Kipling, father of author Rudyard Kipling, they were the creations of his students at the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai’s oldest and foremost art school.

Recently, I have begun paying many a visit to soak in the nocturnal magic of the majestic tower. Unlike that other notable city edifice, the regal Victoria Terminus Station (renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus), that is often lit up in garish colours, like a sad and kitschy Christmas tree, the Rajabai Tower rises out of a dusky canopy of trees, a soft luminescence now embellishing its ancient facade like gilded lace.

We have to thank KSA Lighting Designers for the enthralling and distinctive skeletal look of the tower. Following the admirable restoration by Somaya & Kalappa (SNK) Consultants Pvt. Ltd. between 2013 and 2015, the clock tower was assigned to KSA Lighting Designers in 2018 (completed in 2021) for the lighting of its facade as well as the interiors of the University Library at its base.

Over a phone call, KSA’s Kanchan Puri confesses that the project is her “swansong”— not literally her final assignment but what will continue to stand out in her body of work — and an ode to the heritage structure. With more than 20 years of experience in lighting design, Puri continues to be pleasantly surprised at how light behaves. “My aim was to celebrate the architecture…I wanted to sculpt it with light,” she says. “Lighting is an intangible visual medium and that makes it cinematic.”

Puri notes that she was careful not to take the usual approach of floodlighting heritage structures as seen too often in the city. She chose to avoid coloured lighting in order to achieve a soothing feel and to not disturb the area’s nightlife. The lighting design was tested on several mock-ups of the clock tower before the final result was achieved.

She describes how she sets about the lighting of any edifice, “It starts off with a canvas of darkness, with my eyes closed. And then, like a work of art done with a paintbrush, I almost paint in the light — and the effect of light and shadow comes into play.”

To understand the immensity of work on the Rajabai Clock Tower, I speak to urban conservationist Brinda Somaya who is also the founder and principal architect of SNK Consultants. She highlights the Herculean task of carrying out the restoration and repair work on the tower especially with the clock functioning at a height of 85 metres (280 feet), and the only internal access to the tower being an extremely narrow, spiral stone staircase.

Due to Mumbai University’s concern that the clock mechanism might be difficult to restart later, SNK collaborated with “clockwork enthusiast” Venkatesh Rao to ensure that it was kept running throughout the restoration process. “During the restoration work, everyone would brace themselves when the clock struck loud in that confined space, at its regular intervals. It was, however, a soul-stirring sound to hear, one that I will never forget,” the architect says.

Listening to the amount of care taken to preserve a part of the city’s history, I feel a surge of pride. Somaya asserts, “Revitalising the older parts of our cities rather than knocking them down brings huge benefits. This retains our sense of place and history. If we don’t preserve the past, we have no future.” Puri observes that the entire precinct of buildings that sit around the maidan have differentiating and interesting characteristics that could be elevated through the language of light.

As the city is subsumed by the many changes wrought by time, its architecture remains a permanent reminder of things that are enduring. The awe that the physicality and beauty of the Rajabai Clock Tower create makes me feel humbled. And yet it is a reassuring presence that fills me with immense joy and optimism every time that I witness its ethereal beauty.