Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus

Few buildings announce a city the way this one does. Rising out of the traffic swirl at Nagar Chowk, at the northern edge of the Fort district, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus is a cathedral that happens to run trains: a great mass of buff and blue-grey stone, turrets, gables, finials and a ribbed central dome, its cornices darkened by a century and a half of monsoon and city air.

• It was designed by the British architect Frederick William Stevens and completed in 1888 as Victoria Terminus, a name Mumbaikars still shorten affectionately to VT as readily as they say CSMT.
• UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 2004, and it remains the single image most outsiders carry of the city.
• The style is Victorian Gothic Revival, but the building is no transplant.
• Stevens worked alongside craftsmen trained at the Sir J.J.
• School of Art, and the result folds Indian decorative instincts into a European frame.
• Pointed arches, rose windows and flying buttresses share the facade with carved monkeys, peacocks, lotus motifs and a menagerie of stone creatures; polychrome stonework, Italian marble columns and stained glass light the vaulted booking hall.
• The central dome is crowned by a female figure bearing a torch and a spoked wheel, an allegory of Progress. Walk the full Dr. D.N.
• Road frontage slowly and then double back — the gate piers, gargoyles and wrought-iron railings reward a second lap as much as the skyline does.
• It is also, emphatically, a working station: the headquarters of Central Railway and one of the busiest suburban terminals anywhere, feeding the Central and Harbour lines from dawn to midnight.
• The best views are from the footpath opposite and from the pedestrian overbridges nearby; photography inside the concourse and on platforms is restricted, so ask railway staff before raising a camera.
• Central Railway maintains a heritage gallery and occasionally runs guided access to the administrative wing — hours vary, so confirm on the day.
• The terminus was among the sites attacked on 26 November 2008, and a memorial on the premises remembers those killed; visitors pause there quietly.
• For food, Fort and neighbouring Kalbadevi hold some of Mumbai's oldest pure-vegetarian eating culture — Gujarati thali houses, Marwari sweet-and-snack counters and Udupi-style lunch homes serving idli, medu vada, misal and unlimited thalis a short walk from the terminus.
• Mumbai is equally a seafood city, though, so do not assume: look for a clearly displayed "pure vegetarian" board at the entrance and confirm with the staff before you order.
• Jain preparations, made without onion, garlic or root vegetables, are widely understood in this neighbourhood and worth asking for by name.