Defence
The Old Secretariat building in Bombay (Mumbai), completed in the 1870s in the Venetian Gothic style, was designed by:
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Answer: Option A — Henry St. Clair Wilkins
Detailed Solution
Clair Wilkins. The Old Secretariat building in Bombay, completed in 1874, was designed by Colonel Henry St. Clair Wilkins, a British military engineer.
About the building:
- It was built in the Venetian Gothic style.
- It has a long facade with arcaded verandahs, gables and a large tower.
- It was built of buff-coloured and blue basalt stone.
- It housed the offices of the government of the Bombay Presidency.
- It now houses the City Civil and Sessions Court.
Other works of Wilkins:
He also designed the Public Works Department Secretariat and was associated with other Gothic buildings in Bombay.
Gothic buildings of Bombay:
- In the 1860s and 1870s, under the Governor Sir Bartle Frere, Bombay saw the construction of many grand public buildings in the Victorian Gothic style.
- NCERT notes that the Gothic style, with its high-pitched roofs, pointed arches and detailed decoration, was used in many buildings of Bombay.
Examples include the Secretariat, the University of Bombay (Rajabai Tower and Convocation Hall, by George Gilbert Scott), the High Court, and the Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus), designed by F. W. Stevens.
The Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.
NCERT on colonial architecture:
NCERT discusses three styles of colonial architecture: neo-classical, neo-Gothic and Indo-Saracenic.
Why not the other options?
- ✗W. Stevens designed the Victoria Terminus.
- ✗George Wittet designed the Gateway of India.
- ✗Edwin Lutyens designed buildings in New Delhi.
Quick tip
Remember: Bombay (Old) Secretariat (1874, Venetian Gothic) = Henry St. Clair Wilkins; Victoria Terminus = F. W. Stevens; Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles = UNESCO 2018.
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Monuments & Religious Places — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.