Acrobatics of Style – Railway Stations

In May 1857, the soldiers of the Ben-gal army rose in revolt against the increasing power of the British East India Company throughout northern India. Within weeks, this took the shape of the First War of Independence for India. However, the revolting Indians were subdued by the British forces, and with the dissolution of the East India Company, India came under the British crown in 1858. To avert further challenge, the British undertook a more thorough and systematic governance which was hitherto lacking under the East India Company. Roads were driven through the hearts of old bazaars, military cantonments and civil stations were made. The construction of a network of railways, largely completed by the 1870s, firmly subordinated India to the commercial and military needs of the British Empire. In 1876, Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India, and in 1877, Britain presented itself as an imperial power. For a good part of the next century, the British constructed an empire that has left a permanent mark on India, specially on its architecture.

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The British largely built two types of buildings in India: residential and civic structures like railways, schools, colleges, hospitals and offices. Civil and amateur military engineers, who came with the British army, made these structures. Whereas the structural component of these buildings was ably handled by the British engineers, the architectural vocabulary of these structures generated great interest and debate among builders. The reason: these were buildings with no earlier precedents in India and thus had to conceptualized from the very basics. Also, the engineers were not trained in architectural styles and had to improvise as architects too.

The architectural style of the buildings built by the British can be summarized from the talks given by engineer-architects practising in India in 1873 while speaking before the Society of Arts in England. According to T. Roger Smith: “As our administration exhibits European justice, order, law, energy and honour, our buildings too ought to hold up a high standard of European art. They ought to be European both as a rallying point of ourselves and as raising a distinctive symbol of our presence to be beheld with respect and even admiration by the natives of the country.” This view was countered by William Emerson who said that the British should not carry into India a new style of architecture, but rather should follow the example of the Muslims who “seized upon the art indigenous to the countries conquered, adapting to suit their own needs and ideas.” It was further stated that buildings to be used by ‘natives’ should have a ‘native’ architectural style whereas buildings to be used by Europeans were more appropriate in European styles.

Thus one can see that the major intention of architecture built during 1858 and till Independence had a strong political agenda. This had not been the case before 1858 when the British, who came as traders with the East India Company, essentially built out of need structures which were suitable for their style of living like residences and churches. The style of architecture of such buildings was romantic and ‘picturesque’ which was an outcome of experimentation with ‘novelty’ and expressions of ‘nostalgic memories’. Therefore, one can see a very eclectic mix of Indian and European styles portrayed by buildings of the early 19th century India. This period is not unlike the Neo-Classical period of the Western world which has been referred to as an ‘age of confusion’ by some eminent scholars because of the eclectic nature of revival styles employed.

Whereas the early 19th century had a strong inclination for European styles, the latter half of the century turned towards more Indian styles. The reason being that by the late 19th century, the British had made a careful study of India, which included art. The studies were published as useful reference guides like the Jeypore Portfolio of Architectural details which gave extensive measure drawings of Indian buildings. These could be used as and when needed by British architects and engineers. Thus, ‘style’ was a choice and it was utilised depending on the appropriateness of the image that was to be presented to the onlooker.

This style was termed as ‘Indo-Sarcenic’ by the British rulers; Indo for Hindu and Sarcenic for Islamic. Coined by Major Mant, the central conception of this style was always a combination of ‘European Science’ and ‘native art’, of ‘traditional forms’ and ‘modern use’. So even as the face of the buildings was camouflaged in an Indian garb, the planning of all civic structures remain unmistakably British. Thus, Indo-Sarcenic style was used to construct the notion of an empire that was both romantic and critical, depending on whether its purpose was to show off the triumphs and glories of the colonizers, or to offer an excuse for their colonization. Its ‘Indian’ appearance also made the new architecture more acceptable to the ‘natives’. Subsequently this style came to be known as ‘Colonial’ by Indian historians and scholars.

Churchgate Station, Mumbai: strong Overtones of High Gothic

The fort of the British East India Com-pany in Mumbai had three strongly fortified gates: Apollo Gate, Bazaar Gate and Churchgate. Churchgate was located where Flora fountain stands now. It was named after the nearby St. Thomas church, the oldest British church in Bombay, built around 1718. During the restructuring of the Fort and town of Bombay by Sir Bartle Frere, Flora fountain was placed in place of the gate in 1869 but the area continued to be called Churchgate.

In 1855, the Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway was incorporated to start a line from Surat to Bombay. The work was completed in 1864. A local and suburban railway service was introduced by the BB & CI Railway in 1867 and a temporary station called ‘Bombay Back Bay’ was made. In 1894-6, Frederick William Stevens was commissioned to design the headquarters of BB & CI Railway in the central portion of the former Esplanade at Churchgate.

Frederick William Stevens was born on May 11,1847. Articled in 1862, he was appointed an engineer with the Indian Public Works Department in 1867. After working in Pune for a year, he was transferred to Bombay as an architect to the Government. He resigned from Government service in 1884 and started his own practice. While in Bombay he also designed the Victoria Terminus, Municipal Corporation Building, the Royal Alfred Sailors Home, Post Office Mews on Apollo Bunder and the Church Missionary Society’s schools, colleges and many more buildings. He died of malaria fever in 1900.

The Churchgate terminus is based in plan and form of the Victoria Terminus. Symmetrically planned, it has a similar gabled centrepiece, projecting wings flanked by square towers, and the whole is surmounted by a large domed lantern, which reduces in stages. The square towers are capped by smaller domes and subsidiary chattris or kiosks. The whole mass has a great emphasis on the verticality of the building. The external facing of the station is rough hewn blue basalt inlaid with bands of brilliant white counter pointed with red Bassien sandstone. The entrance is crowned by a statue of the spirit of progress complete with locomotive. Like other buildings of its time, it was adorned with the ‘Indo-Sarcenic’ style with strong overtones of High Gothic.

Charbagh Station, Lucknow: Indo-Sarcenic Grandeur

The Railways arrived in Lucknow in 1862. The railway station was located in a vast open garden called Charbagh, which was contiguous to the cantonment. The Charbagh was a beautiful garden developed by Nawab Asaf ud Daula. A description notes that, “Charbagh is a congregation of four gardens, as its name implies. It was a pretty extensive garden in the time of Asaf ud Daula; there were many large wells whose water was conducted everywhere by conduits and fountains. Innumerable paths communicated with every part, recess and pavilion of the garden.” During the Nawabi period (1775 - 1857) Lucknow had many gardens within and around the city. They were used for animal fights, as orchards, or for hunting, or where just pleasure gardens with trees, colourful flowers, birds, and water fountains.

This site was thought to be commercially central and strategically good. The rebellion of the soldiers in 1857 had promoted the official decision to convert all railway stations in British India into military posts. This meant fortifying all stations and the Lucknow station included a fort, arsenal and barracks. It also had extra accommodation for the evacuation of Christians in the event of another outbreak in the city. Its prime military function made the railway station into a restricted area for bona fide passengers only.

Swinton Jacob designed the present railway station at Charbagh in the first decade of the 20th century. Along with the Charbagh station, Swinton also designed Canning College and King George’s Medical College.

Designed in a ‘Indo-Sarcenic’ style, the Lucknow railway station is also a symmetrically planned longitudinal building. Like Churchgate, it is centrally surmounted by a dome and its skyline is punctuated with small chattris . The whole building is in red sandstone with yellow bands. The innumerable chattris give the otherwise horizontal building vertically as they almost seem like small parachutes lifting the building up. As compared to Churchgate station, the architectural elements employed in Charbagh have a predominance of Islamic character thereby making it more rooted in Lucknow, which was a Muslim power-centre with a strong Persian influence.

Both the railway station buildings had their planning in common. They are both based on the plans of British palaces and mansions. In India, the members of the royal families also patronized the same architects who were designing civic buildings for the British, like Swinton Jacob who worked under the patronage of Maharaja Ram Singh of Jaipur. Most of their palaces resemble the official buildings built during this period, and after Independence many of the palaces assumed the status of office and civic buildings proving their similar planning. Not only this, the native themes of the ‘Indo-Sarcenic’ style also suited the image of the Indian princes. It was ‘Indian’, yet ‘modern’.

Although both the railway stations were designed in “Indo-Sarcenic’ style, they had a basic difference. Whereas Charbagh is very ‘Islamic’ in character and gels with the Nawabi Lucknow, Churchgate has a more ‘Gothic’ flavour, which is more in tune with the other ‘European-biased’ buildings of Mumbai. This is because Churchgate was built a decade earlier than Charbagh, and unlike Lucknow, which had Muslim rulers, Mumbai has always been more in touch with the western world. Facing towards Europe, Mumbai sought to define itself as a trading and commercial city, more like a European city. It therefore sought to patronise a European vocabulary of architecture so that it could be the link between the East and the West. Moreover, the rich merchants of Mumbai who contributed greatly to the development of Mumbai were Parsis. This minority group conceived of themselves as outsiders and preferred the mannerisms of the western world, as also the European style of architecture.

Victoria Terminus: Going Gothic

How does one go about celebrating the arrival of the Railways to an alien land? F.W. Stevens set about building his masterpiece, this epitome of Victorian architecture in India by going Gothic. Given the fact that every work of art is born of some human ideal, this building, at the pinnacle of its glory and usefulness, was meant to be a sight to make the populace feel as if they had a glimpse of the glory of the British Empire, the power of its Empress and of the Isle across the seas.

In the age of the Empire, buildings and monuments were built to impress the multitude. To make them gape open-mouthed in admiration at so much ornamentation. In order to maintain their prestige, rulers had to impress the teeming throngs who would judge a thing such as this by the amount of money it had cost. The Empire was powerful and what better way could one go about telling everyone about its glory!

The journey of Gothic architecture itself came at the end of a search for more light and greater space. It was an attempt at trying to create a fairy tale atmosphere in a world surrounded by pragmatic realities of everyday life.

“These Goths,” exclaimed Giorgio Vasari, one of the best-known pupils of Michaelangelo, as he looked down his aquiline nose at the people who lived across the Alps, “these barbarians, untutored in the true classics, have evolved a style of their own which is a mere hodge-podge of spires and pinnacles and grotesque decoration and unnecessary details.”

True, the excesses of Gothic made it a curious cross between a cathedral and a wedding cake. But we must remember that F.W. Stevens had a practical task at hand. He had been asked to solve a problem as best as he could with the means at his disposal and he did solve it brilliantly. Moreover, it was solved in the most practical way possible.

We must remember that the origins of Gothic style came to the fore in the later half of the 12th century. Often, it is referred to as the “pointed arch style” because it found success in working out plans for a pointed vault. While it gave a much lighter, much more airy effect to their buildings, it also allowed them the freedom to give a greater height to their cathedrals.

Even a casual observer will be quick to notice as to how those dome-like vaults are supported by walls. The four points of contact rest on pillars that have an independent life all of their own. Stevens built the Victoria Terminus solely on pillars and then put in the walls, a kind of building in reverse — from the top down with the bare skeleton in place. Almost like you see our skyscrapers going up today.

You will find the walls reduced to just window spaces for sunlight to stream in from the outside and light up the terminal. The pillars which hold up the structure are of prime importance here. It was to these that he paid critical attention, streamlining them, turning them into a flying buttress as it were. To scale greater heights, he made provisions for a double set of flying buttresses.

As regular wall space shrank, windows were to be splashed across the face of the building. Flamboyant towers continued to rear their pinnacles towards the blue sky.

There are touches of the Baroque in the Victoria Terminus. You can see them plainly as ornamentation on some of the walls. Yet, the word is originally derived from the Spanish barroco — a large pearl, not well proportioned but expensive nevertheless. So, down the ages it has come to be used for elements in architecture which tend to the restless and excessive. To put it more simply — a magnificent waste of good money in pursuit of trivia.

No wonder when Lady Dufferin saw it she was heard to say: “Too good for the natives!” She could not have been more wrong.