Central Walk Victoria Gardens Mumbai, 1900 Photo
Old 1900 photo of the central walk in Victoria Gardens, Bombay, now Mumbai. The Victoria Gardens is considered to be the largest and most popular public garden in the expanse of Bombay. Named after Queen Victoria, it covers around 50 acres. The garden is located near the Byculla railway station and east of Parel Road.
It was established in 1862 under the initiative of The Agro-Horticulture Society of Western India (founded in 1830). Bombay Presidency, in 1835, transferred a plot of land in Sewri into the care of the society, in order to establish botanical gardens on its grounds. In 1862, this plot of land in Sewri was taken away from the society in order to make way for a cemetery for the city’s European population.
But in return, the society received a plot of land of 33 acres at the present site. The Victoria Gardens was officially opened to the general public in a grand ceremony in November 1862. With the participation of Lady Frere (wife of Bombay’s governor), who named it after Queen Victoria. A further 15 acres of land was added to the garden around the time. This photo shows the wide central walk of the Victoria Gardens, lined with luscious plants and trees on either side. Click on the photo for better view.
Did you know- in a slightly later period a clock tower and a museum was added to the garden which is now officially known as “Jijamata Bhonsle Udayan Gardens.”
From the collection- Drawing Hiding The Taj Mahal WW2., Flora Fountain & Trams Bombay, 3 Old PC 1900s.
