Masterstrock at 13:10, 21 March 2026

2026-03-21T13:10:47Z

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{{short description|Heritage building in Maharashtra}}
{{distinguish|Mumbai Police Headquarters}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Maharashtra Police Headquarters building
| native_name =
| other_name = Royal Alfred Sailors' Home
| native_language =
| image = [[File:Royal Alfred Sailors' Home, Bombay 1870.jpg|300px]]
| caption = An 1870s photograph of what was then the Royal Alfred Sailors' Home.
| type =
| coordinates = {{coord|18|55|31|N|72|50|00|E|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = India Mumbai#India
| location = Wellington Circle, [[Lion Gate (Mumbai)|Lion Gate]]
| area = [[Fort, Mumbai]]
| built = 1876
| architect =
| architecture = [[Gothic Revival]], [[Venetian Gothic]]
| governing_body =
| owner =
| designation1 = World Heritage Site
| designation1_type = Cultural
| designation1_criteria = ii, iv
| designation1_date = 2018
| designation1_partof = [[Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai]]
| designation1_number = 1480
}}

'''Maharashtra Police Headquarters building''' (formerly '''Royal Alfred Sailors' Home''') is a [[Heritage structures in Mumbai|Grade I listed]] [[List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India|UNESCO World Heritage Site]] in [[South Mumbai]] that was built between 1872 and 1876, and designed by the British architect [[Frederick William Stevens]], who also designed the [[Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=(Former) Royal Alfred Sailors' Home, Bombay, by Frederick William Stevens (1847-1900) |url=http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/stevens/1.html |website=www.victorianweb.org}}</ref> The building is often confused with [[Mumbai Police Headquarters]], also built in [[Gothic Revival]] style, and several newspapers often carry the image of Maharashtra headquarters while reporting on the latter.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 1, 2017 |title=Mumbai Police's over 100-yr-old office set for a facelift |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/mumbai-polices-over-100-yr-old-office-set-for-a-facelift/articleshow/61391748.cms |newspaper=The Economic Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=May 11, 2018 |title=Mumbai Police to soon get its own museum |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/national/mumbai-police-soon-get-its-own-museum-669443.html |website=Deccan Herald}}</ref> The headquarters are located at Wellington Circle in [[Fort, Mumbai|Fort]], and face the [[Wellington Fountain]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GdBbBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT42|title=Southern India: A Guide to Monuments Sites & Museums|first=George|last=Michell|date=1 May 2013|publisher=Roli Books Private Limited|isbn=9788174369031|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Royal Alfred Sailors' Home, the previous occupant of the building, was named after [[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Alfred]], the second son of [[Queen Victoria]] and Prince Albert, who visited Bombay in 1870. It was a recuperation centre for sick European sailors, and provided accommodation for 20 officers and about 100 [[Sailor|seamen]]. After 1928, it served as the Bombay Presidency Legislative Assembly and then the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan until 1982, when the [[Maharashtra Police]] moved into the building.

==History==
The historic structure called Royal Alfred Sailors' Home was built at the height of [[maritime trade]] in Bombay, which had become a busy port during the [[British Raj]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wright |first=Colin |title=Sailors' Home [Bombay]. |url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/s/019pho000000937u00034000.html |website=www.bl.uk}}</ref> It was designed by Frederick William Stevens, an engineer with the Indian Public Works Department, and named after the "sailor prince" [[Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]], the second son of [[Queen Victoria]] and Prince Albert who had visited Bombay in 1870.<ref name="auto"/> It could accommodate 20 officers and 100 sea men.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 12, 2016 |title=A gaze at FW Stevens' Gothic landmark in Colaba |url=https://www.mid-day.com/articles/a-gaze-at-fw-stevens-gothic-landmark-in-colaba/17753152 |website=mid-day}}</ref> The Maharaja of Baroda [[Khanderao II Gaekwad]] contributed {{Indian rupee}}2,00,000 towards the construction of the building.<ref name="Kidambi">{{Cite book |last1=Kidambi |first1=Prashant |last2=Kamat |first2=Manjiri |last3=Dwyer |first3=Rachel |date=October 20, 2019 |title=Bombay before Mumbai: Essays in Honour of Jim Masselos |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fkO1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT149 |publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited |isbn=9789353056650 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The building was Stevens's first important commission in the city and he was supervised by [[James Augustus Fuller]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Curl |first1=James Stevens |last2=Wilson |first2=Susan |date=July 6, 2015 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Lu6BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA733 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199674985 |via=Google Books}}</ref> His efforts were described as "an early attempt to infuse Gothic architecture with Muslim nuances".<ref name="auto" /> It was acquired by the Government of India in 1928 from the Committee of Royal Alfred Sailors' Home.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=MuQiAQAAMAAJ&q=PA16 Bombay Civic Journal, Volume 11] p.16: "...they had received from the Royal Alfred Sailors' Home out of the sale proceeds of the later's premises to the Government."</ref> It then served as the Legislative Assembly and the Bombay Council Hall, until the new council hall was built in 1982.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/maharashtra-police-headquarters-set-for-rs-17-crore-facelift-1578607-2019-08-08|title=Maharashtra police headquarters set for Rs 17 crore facelift|agency=Press Trust of India |date=August 8, 2019 |magazine=India Today}}</ref> Following the departure, [[Maharashtra Police]] moved into the building and currently occupies the site.<ref name="auto1"/>

[[File:Police Head Quarters Mumbai.jpg|thumb|Facade Police Headquarters Mumbai.]]

==Architecture==
The building was constructed using blue [[basalt]], specifically the Kurla stone, in contrast to the Mumbai Police Headquarters that used yellow basalt some two decades later in 1896. Red [[Mangalore tiles]] were used for the roof. [[John Lockwood Kipling]] (father of the novelist [[Rudyard Kipling]]), who was then the principal of [[Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art]], worked on the [[capital (architecture)|capitals]] and [[cornices]].<ref name="auto" /> He supervised the students of the college who also worked on the sculptures.<ref name="auto1"/>

The sculptures were done in [[Bath stone]] by the English sculptor [[Richard Lockwood Boulton]] of [[Cheltenham]]. The [[pediment]] has sculptures of the Roman god of water and the sea, [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]], nymphs, sea horses, and waves that recall the building's proximity to the [[Arabian Sea]].<ref name="auto" /> Discussing the charitable institution of the Sailors' Home in an essay in the book ''Bombay Before Mumbai: Essays in Honour of Jim Masselos'', historian Preeti Chopra writes, "Even in the context of port architecture, Bombay's Sailors' Home looked as a "rather luxurious hotel" with large airy rooms and bathrooms."<ref name="Kidambi"/>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Maharashtra Police HQ (3328006669).jpg| The building was the first important commission for [[Frederick William Stevens]], who later designed the [[Victoria Terminus]].
File:Mumbai 03-2016 33 Maharashtra Police building detail.jpg| The [[pediment]] sculptures depicting [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]] and nymphs were done by [[Richard Lockwood Boulton]].
File:Maharashtra Police Headquarters at Fort.jpg|The building at dusk
File:Maharashtra Police Headquarters, Mumbai.jpg|The polychromatic exterior inspired by the [[Venetian Gothic]] style
File:Maharashtra_Police_-_panoramio_(2).jpg|The headquarters at Wellington Circle, with [[Wellington Fountain]] in the foreground
Maharashtra Police Headquarters by Gnoeee.jpg|The headquarters at Mumbai
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Maharashtra Police Headquarters}}

[[Category:Police headquarters]]
[[Category:1876 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Gothic Revival architecture in India]]
[[Category:Residential buildings completed in 1876]]
[[Category:Venetian Gothic architecture]]
[[Category:Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai]]

Maharashtra Police Headquarters - Revision history

Masterstrock at 13:10, 21 March 2026