VICTORIA TERMINUS, Mumbai

Although photos aren't allowed inside, be sure to enter the Chhatrapati Shivaji train station (renamed in an effort to eradicate English); the interior is very impressive, with Gothic vaulted ceilings and ironwork.

My first trip to CST was in a jetlag haze, and I missed out on the architectural beauty of it completely, but I managed to smarten up and return for a second look before leaving. There is heavy, heavy traffic around the building, so be careful when you're backing up to get any photograph of it.

Victoria Terminus or VT for short, is another example of the beautiful architecture that accents the city's beauty. This is one of the main train stations of the city. Millions of people pass through this station every day.

Modeled on the lines of the St Pancras Station in London, Victoria Terminus is undoubtedly the Raj's piece de resistance, Complete with carved stone friezes, stained glass windows and flying buttresses. It is Gothic architecture at its best, an awesome edifice that most citizens view with deep pride. At the top of the central dome stands the triumphant figure of Progress. The station was christened to commemorate Victoria Jubilee Day in 1887 when India's first steam engine puffed out to neighboring Thane, about 45 kms away. Today it has been rechristened Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus after the Maratha warrior. And the old steam engines have been replaced by electric ones. But to the 2.5 million commuters who push past its massive portals everyday, this is still VT, the pulse of a throbbing city.

Victoria Terminus now renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. The building, designed by the British architect F. W. Stevens, became the symbol of Bombay as the ‘Gothic City’

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, formerly known as Victoria Terminus Station, in Mumbai.