Mumbai: Blue synagogue was originally green & gold

MUMBAI: The sky-blue synagogue behind Rhythm House has long been a Mumbai landmark. But when conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah and her team scraped off the many layers of paint on the interior, they discovered a sage green and gold palette, which was part of the original Victorian colour scheme.
Thus, choosing sage green for the interior was a “no-brainer” but Narain decided to stick with blue for the exterior out of respect for oral history and memory.“After all, generations have called it the blue synagogue,” said Lambah, adding that the new indigo colour, which has replaced the sky-blue paint, is more in keeping with the Victorian palette.
A Classical Revival structure, which is listed as Grade II A, the Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue boasts a large pediment on the Western facade, three stained glass panels, fluted Corinthian columns, Minton tiles and brass lamps. The conservation work, which cost almost Rs 5 crore, was funded largely by JSW Group with smaller grants from Kala Ghoda Association, World Monuments Fund and Sir Jacob Sassoon and Allied Trust. Sangita Jindal, chairperson of JSW Foundation, said she had long admired the synagogue building and was “charmed by its colour” but dismayed by its dilapidated condition. “If the building has some historic importance, I will help in its restoration irrespective of its religious affiliation,” Jindal pointed out while saying that people often ask why she chose to restore a Jewish structure.
The work began in late January 2018 with the restoration of the timber roof and rafters. In order to retain as much of the original wood as possible, Lambah’s team used the splice repair technique, cutting off the rotten part of each rafter and joining the rest to another piece of timber in a zig-zag pattern. Missing Minton tiles were replaced with Bharat tiles and brass chandeliers were rewired. Paint was scraped off the synagogue’s cast iron columns and walls, revealing floral stencilling similar to the kind found in the BMC headquarters. “This is the second building where we’ve come across Victorian stencilling,” says Lambah. “Clearly, there were these beautiful stencils that we have lost over time because of repainting.”
The synagogue was built in 1884 by Sir Jacob Sassoon in memory of his father Elias David Sassoon. Jacob is the grandson of David Sassoon, a Baghdadi Jew, who established the Sassoon dynasty in Bombay in 1800s. The building was designed by an English civil engineer David E Gostling and his partner James Morris. The same architectural firm later designed the Times of India building in 1901.
The synagogue is walking distance from David Sassoon Mechanics Institute—now David Sassoon Library—and David Sassoon’s first home in Bombay before he built his palatial Byculla mansion. The newly restored structure, which boasts a community kitchen and café, will be inaugurated on Thursday, February 7.