Flora Fountain (Hutatma Chowk)

Flora Fountain is a Victorian-era stone fountain at the heart of the Fort business district, erected in 1864 at the junction of five streets where the old Bombay Fort's Churchgate once stood (demolished in 1860 when the city expanded beyond its walls). The fountain, carved by James Forsythe from Portland stone and depicting the Roman goddess Flora, was dedicated to Sir Bartle Frere, the governor whose urban planning created modern Bombay.

The square around the fountain was renamed Hutatma Chowk (Martyrs' Square) in 1960 to commemorate the 105 protesters killed during the Samyukta Maharashtra movement that demanded a separate Marathi-speaking state. The combination of the imperial fountain and the martyrs' memorial — both on the same plaza — captures the layered history of a city that has kept the colonial monuments while reinterpreting their meaning.