The Western Railway Headquarters building was built for the office of the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway company, founded in 1855, to connect Bombay and Surat and establish regular supplies of Indian cotton.
Construction of the company's headquarters began in 1894 next to Churchgate station and lasted five years. The chief architect of the project was Frederick Stevens, whose works include the famous Victoria Terminus and the Royal Yacht Club.
The grand Headquarters building resembles the palace of a fairytale maharaja. Several wings of different heights form a single ensemble; each wing is crowned with turrets topped by round white domes with ornate spires, and above the central part rises a tall octagonal tower with a balcony, arched windows, and an abundance of decorative elements.
Materials creating a beautiful visual contrast were used for the construction: dark brown roughly hewn basalt, cream sandstone, and pure white stone. Such contrasting colors are characteristic of Mumbai's colonial architecture and give the buildings a charming and romantic appearance.
The Western Railway Headquarters is so symbolic for India that its image was placed on commemorative postage stamps printed in 1999 for the building's centenary.
