For 10 Years, This Man Has Climbed 236 Steps Daily To Keep Mumbai’s 146-YO Clock Alive

My first brush with Mumbai’s heritage came at 17, when I was a wide-eyed journalism student learning to find stories in the city’s everyday hum. Between classes and internships, I would wander with a notebook, chasing old buildings and forgotten nooks. 

One afternoon, I stood by the green expanse of Oval Maidan, gazing up at the Gothic lines of the Rajabai Clock Tower. It felt like something from another time — intricate, solemn, and very alive.

The tower that shaped a skyline

Built in 1878 and inspired by London’s Big Ben, the Rajabai Tower once held the title of Mumbai’s tallest monument. British architect Sir George Gilbert Scott designed it, and stockbroker Premchand Roychand funded it in honour of his mother, Rajabai.

According to historical accounts, Rajabai was visually impaired and relied on sound to keep track of time. To help her know when evening approached, Roychand commissioned a clock tower whose chimes could be heard from their home nearby. The tower became both an architectural marvel and a son’s gesture of love that gave the city one of its most enduring landmarks.

Rising 280 feet over the University of Mumbai’s Fort Campus, the tower is one of the finest examples of Victorian Gothic architecture in India, a skyline signature that has witnessed the city’s transformation from colonial Bombay to modern Mumbai.

In 2018, UNESCO recognised the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco ensemble of Mumbai — including Rajabai Tower — as a World Heritage Site, celebrating it as a bridge between Indian craftsmanship and European design.

Its 14 bells once rang in harmony across South Mumbai. Today, five remain functional and still chime every 15 minutes.

Back then, I did not know that the grand clock I admired from below was still running, not on electricity, but on the strength of human hands. Hidden behind the tower’s stone walls, an electrician named Mahendra Prasad Gupta has been keeping it alive for over a decade, climbing 236 steps each day so that the city’s time never stops.

A clock that runs without electricity

Every morning, as Mumbai picks up speed, Gupta begins his routine. He makes his way up the narrow spiral staircase inside the 280-foot tower, carrying tools, oil, and a passion to keep the clock ticking. For most people, it’s an architectural landmark. For him, it’s a living machine that needs care, attention, and patience.

“I climb 236 stairs to come up daily. I do all the cleaning. I hit the keys. I lift the watch with the handle. The weight of the watch is around 250 to 300 kilograms. It has no electric power,” Gupta explained. “Whatever power it has, it runs on weight. I pick it up, lift the lever from the bottom, and the clock starts ticking.”

Keeping time in a city that never stops

The tower’s carvings, stained-glass windows, and pointed arches still hold the aesthetic of Victorian Bombay. It is part of Mumbai’s UNESCO-recognised Victorian Gothic and Art Deco ensemble — a global acknowledgement of its cultural value. But beyond the plaques and preservation efforts, its life depends on something far simpler: a man who still climbs the stairs and winds time by hand.

“It is my passion to keep it alive. Our traditional system should keep running so the clock keeps chiming,” Gupta added.

At 146 years old, the Rajabai Clock Tower stands tall as a keeper of stories and a symbol of endurance. In a city that runs on speed and screens, Gupta’s work asks us to slow down, to listen, to remember, and to stay connected to the past even as we race into the future.

Sources:

‘The Heartbeat of Mumbai: Rajabai Clock Tower’s Timeless Chime’: by Swamidas Nair for The Brighter World, Published on 23 September 2025.

‘Mumbai University’s timekeeper is as reliable as clockwork’: by Rahi Gaikwad for Mumbai Mirror, Published on 30 July 2019.

‘The man who keeps Mumbai’s iconic 146-year-old clock ticking’: by BBC News, Published on 21 September 2025.

Feature image: Mumbai Mirror

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thebetterindia.com