Asiatic society mumbai

Tracing its origin to the literary society of Bombay, Asiatic Society of Mumbai was founded by Sir James Mackintosh in 1804 though the construction of this town hall was completed in 1933. This iconic library stands tall in the fort area of Mumbai. We have seen this building in so many Hindi movies and advertisements. This beautiful building went under restoration and renovation. It is now open for publish to visit, although photography is not allowed inside. But yes, you can always visit the library. Asiatic Society of Mumbai – The 1804 Established Iconic Town Hall The aim to establish this society was to promote useful knowledge, especially related to Asia and to conserve literature, culture and oriental arts. Mumbai has a lot of beautiful colonial buildings especially in the fort and Colaba zone. Currently, this beautiful building is a house of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai, the State Central Library and a Museum, Head Office of Directorate of Libraries Maharashtra State, Maharashtra State Women’s Council, Additional Controller of Stamps Office, and a Post Office. What I really love about this beautiful building is that it looks straight out of an old classical English novel. Not just the exterior but also interior, it looks surreal. The high-rise chandeliers, the gold-motifs on the roof, the white marble statue of the founder, traditional wooden book shelves and wood table-chair set with lamps on it, this place is a paradise for books, history and architecture lovers. ...

What did the first nearly accurate map of India look like? How did the British set about painstakingly mapping this massive country even as they coveted and claimed large tracts of it as their own? What was the scale of this imperial project? One might have a fair idea of how all of this happened — thanks to John Keay, who wrote The Great Arc all those years ago — but Mapped, a new exhibition at the Asiatic Society of Mumbai, provides a deeper, more visceral sense of how cartography helped make colonial empires. Curated by heritage management company Past Perfect, the exhibition unfurls a century of surveys undertaken by the British, including, of course, The Great Trignometric Survey (GTS), the numerous marine and eventually revenue and other administrative surveys. An entire story involving conquest, power play, and espionage plays out through the maps that belong to the Asiatic Library’s collection and are part of a larger Cartographic Conservation project that kicked off in 2019, says Deepti Anand, co-founder of Past Perfect. And it all started, in a way, with James Renell, who made the first nearly accurate map of India in 1788. “Prior to this all maps of India look absurd, because people referenced the prime meridian in Paris or Greenwich. Renell, who was appointed the first Surveyor General of India, standardized the kos, the local unit of measuring distance. And since the British had gained control of Bengal back then, he was also able to assign a meridian in Calcu...

Premium Asiatic Society of Mumbai gets first woman president Former Supreme Court judge Sujata Manohar withdrew her nomination for the post of president at the last minute, after which the contest was between former principal of Siddhartha College, Dr Surendra Dhaktode, and Balaporia, who secured 107 out of 163 votes. 78-year-old Professor Vispi Balaporia is the former vice-principal and HoD English of Jai Hind College. (Express photo) In a major milestone in its 215-year-old history, the Asiatic Society of Mumbai got its first woman president on Saturday after 78-year-old Professor Vispi Balaporia won the election to the post. Former Supreme Court judge Sujata Manohar withdrew her nomination for the post of president at the last minute, after which the contest was between former principal of Siddhartha College, Dr Surendra Dhaktode, and Balaporia, who secured 107 out of 163 votes. Traditionally, the society has been male-dominated, Balaporia said. “Women didn’t put themselves forward. The way it was started, it was controlled by men in the days of the British. However, British women too have contributed to its activities. Until recently, the Gallery of Excellence consisting of imposing portraits in the durbar hall, included Indians and British. But there wasn’t a single portrait of a woman in the gallery. After some members suggested, we added a portrait of Indian scholar Durga Bhagwat to the gallery,” she said. She added, “For some years now, the society has had women as...