Urbs Prima in Indis : This angel atop BMC’s HQ is Mumbai’s sole embodiment of Colonial Bombay
In the late 1880s, on the heels of the city’s growth owing to the cotton boom, launch of railways and opening of Suez Canal, the city administration had begun building new municipal administration headquarters.
Built in stone, the statue comprises a winged allegorical figure who represents ‘Spirit of Bombay’, according to historian Jan Morris and also bears the inscription of the Urbs Prima phrase. (Express photo) For Mumbaikars alighting their jam-packed locals and exiting CSMT, the headquarters of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is perhaps the first building they lay eyes on. Perched atop the colonial structure’s gable, the city’s sole statue personifying Colonial Bombay—Urbs Prima in Indis—however, largely remains neglected in plain sight, amidst the city’s hustle.
In the late 1880s, on the heels of the city’s growth owing to the cotton boom, launch of railways and opening of Suez Canal, the city administration had begun building new municipal administration headquarters.
Like many who concurred that Bombay was Urbs Prima in Indis — Latin for primary city in India, Frederick William Stevens, who had taken up the cudgels to design the municipal halls, wanted to embody the city and its growth. In a bid to personify Bombay, he designed the angel-like figure and deemed it Urbs Prima in Indis, which was the city’s emblem at the time.
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