Town Hall, Mumbai

Located in the Fort area of South Mumbai is an imperial building housing the Asiatic Society of Bombay and a museum- the Town Hall. The origin of the Asiatic Society can be traced back to 1804 when the first meeting of Literary Society of Bombay was held. In 1811, James McKintosh proposed the idea of the Town Hall. The structure consisting of a portico with 8 Doric pillars was designed by Colonel Thomas Cowper in 1830. The marble statutes of benefactors of the city, wrought iron loggias, parquet flooring and spiral staircases are all a part of the exquisite edifice which is highly influenced by Greek and Roman architectural styles. The construction cost of this neolithic building was around 500,000 pounds and the construction materials were brought from England.

The library contains a collection 800,000 books making it Mumbai’s largest library. One of the valuable reserves in the library is a first edition copy of “Inferno” by Dante. On the other hand a rare gold mohur(coin) belonging to the great Mughal Emperor, Akbar is exhibited in the museum along with a numismatic collection of over 1000 ancient coins. These treasures can be viewed with permission only but the library is open to the public. The library aims at encouraging research in sciences, literature and oriental arts.