Gloria Church: In Search of Lost Glory

One of the oldest churches in Bombay, Gloria Church in Byculla, as it is seen today, was built in 1911. 

However its origins can be traced back to a private chapel around 1548 in Captain Antonio Pesoa's manor.  When the Indian government passed a gazette in 1908 stating that the land on which the Church was built was earmarked for acquisition under the Compulsory Acquisition Act for the proposed Bombay Port Trust Railway, the Diocese  had no choice but to give in. They received two lakhs rupees in compensation and the new plot in Byculla, where the church currently stands.

This time however, unlike its predecessor at Mazagaon, which was built in the Portuguese style, the church in Byculla adopted an English Gothic style. 

The Gloria Church stands 160 feet high and was built in the shape of a Latin Cross
which is 205 feet long and 65 feet broad.

The glazed lancet windows, with pointed stone traceries and vertical mullions as enclosed under pointed vaulting consists of an array of colored and painted glass

The church is currently under renovation. The cost has been estimated to more than three crore.

Mass Timings: Every sunday 8 a.m, 9:40 a.m and 11:20 a.m.

St. Xaviers College, Mumbai

One of the top ten colleges in India, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai is an architectural beauty that has nutured some of the best minds and faces (read Bollywood) in the country. This fact aside, I fell in love with the place, the moment I stepped my foot in the Quadrangle. The building has gargoyles, who wouldn't?  It isn't odd then that I took advantage of  the fact that I was a student in XIC to explore the place a bit on my own. You know just the door here and the window there. No breaking in. Haha. *Clears throat* 

The stone building facade that has become a part of pop culture now, what with the movies, songs and ads that were shot here.

St. Xavier's College Chapel

Hogwarts-esque staircases: I thought they would start moving any moment.

And finally the top most landing.

The view: worth climbing all the flights of stairs.

 

This is how they chill in Xavier's.

Passages that have kept secrets of those nervous first confessions of love.

The College Gym

Father Gordon: Watching over his flock. 

The view from the Priests'Quarters

The priests'chapel: few have had the good fortune to see this part. 

The view from Father Gordon's balcony: a reminder of the care God has taken to design this world. 

A small tribute to the Prakash Bhaiiya who's most amazing soyabean sandwhiches made nine months I spent at the Xavier's Campus so much more awesome.