General Post Office Building of Mumbai: Some Interesting facts about the colonial structure*

navrangindia.blogspot.com July 11, 2025


GPO, Mumbai, MH paperjewels.org

The General Post Office, Mumbai, the largest one in India serves as  the central post office of this metropolis. It is one of the finest Colonial buildings built  by  the British to  house Post Office  to serve  the  people  then. The British India government  also built GPO in cities  like  Calcutta (Kolkata), Madras (Chennai), etc. Only recently it was restored back to  old glory by INTACH's  professional  conservation  engineers. The old structure, prior  restoration  work began, had remained uncared for a long time resulting  in damages  in many parts  of the building.

GPO Mumbai ndianexpress.com

Restoration in progress GPO,Mumbai.indiatimes.com

War memorial plaque, GPO, Mumbai.
 enwikipedia.org

01. There is a war memorial marble  plaque in this building complex commemorating the Postal employees of India in the service of the British Indian Army who died in the First World War.

02. In the 2nd week of April 2013, a great historical event took place. As part of its centenary celebration of Mumbai GPO.  Twelve  female employees took charge of the city's first all-women post office that was inaugurated at Old Custom House on Friday.

03. There are 1000 staff members working in the building.  You can very well imagine the size of  the building and other amenities that need to be taken care  to  serve the employees.

04. Very little do we know that this  Indo-European styled building  once served as quarters by the staff of St. George hospital in the late 19th century.

05. The GPO building came up  across  one of the three gateways present during the British rule.  Bombay island in the past  had three gateways - the first called ‘Churchgate’ (located where Flora Fountain is placed today), the second gate was Gateway of India, (which was called ‘Apollo Gate') which was erected to commemorate the landing of George V for his coronation as the Emperor of India in December 1911 on Strand Road; he and the queen were on their 
 way to attend the Delhi Durbar and the third, being  ‘Bazaar Gate’ ( was across the present day GPO stands).

06. It is centrally located   in a busy area  of Mumbai  close to  the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) formerly Victoria Terminus. M
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07. The unique choice of Architectural Style has made GPO look grandeur  and majestic. Indo-Saracenic  design style (Hindu ,Persian and Gothic style), a blend of Victorian and Islamic architectural elements, was followed by its British architect John Begg, a consultant architect to the British government, who  designed it in 1902. Inspiration came from the work  of Robert Chisholm (of Madras Presidency). Both architects used Gol Gumbaz, Bijapur, KA as a model to build domes in public structures.

08. Architect carefully chose basalt rocks, yellow Malad sandstone, and white stone from Dhrangadra  as construction  materials. He used them specially at selected places to impart beauty and uniqueness.
GPO, Mumbai .mid-day.com

Main dome, GPO ,Mumbai indiatimes.com

09. The  Central Dome: The large  central  dome has a diameter of 65 feet, surrounded by 64 inverted lotus petals, highlighting the design features of Bijapur rulers. The chief feature of  this building is an ethereal central hall which rises up to the great dome. The building covers a  total  of 120000 sq. feet and  it  took9long  years to complete  the work.

10. Philatelic Bureau: Houses one of India's largest Philatelic Bureaus, which also functions as an international bureau. 

11. It took  a few  years to restore the building which was in poor  condition due  to poor upkeep.  INTACH Carried  out  the restoration work technically  following  old  techniques  as adopted in the colonial time. Special  care was taken with  the sole  purpose  to preserve the building's heritage and integrate modern facilities. 
Unique Features: The building includes interconnected basements and tunnels, with one known opening.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Post_Office,_Mumbai

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nation-world/mumbai-gets-its-first-all-women-post-office-on-gpos-100-years/slideshow/19524881.cms 

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/citys-largest-dome-bears-indelible-stamp-of-bombays-long-history/

Author:K.N.Jayaraman