120-year-old pipe organ gives Mumbai a music lesson from the past

The organ, part of the Freemasons’ Hall that was built by former Governor of Bombay William Baron Sandhurst, had not been operational for around eight years.

A 120-year-old pipe organ that was installed by the British at Mumbai’s Sandhurst Temple in 1898, was opened to the public on Sunday. The organ, part of the Freemasons’ Hall that was built by former Governor of Bombay William Baron Sandhurst, had not been operational for around eight years.

The British considered pipe organs an important part of their churches, masonic lodges and auditoriums. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

The British considered pipe organs an important part of their churches, masonic lodges and auditoriums. But, over the years, these musical instruments fell into a state of disrepair.

On Sunday, after months of servicing and repair, the District Grand Lodge of Bombay, the city’s masonic centre, held its annual Open House, and gave visitors a glimpse of the organ’s history.

“It was an expensive affair to get the pipe organ repaired; a specialist had to be called in from south and it cost us ₹ 8 lakh,” said Shreevardhan Sinha, the district information officer at the centre. “But we did it because we believe we are the custodians of this city’s legacy, and if this organ wouldn’t have been repaired, we would lose a part of history.”

“The equipment for the instrument needed to be imported, which is costly,” said Sujay Anand, the pipe organ technician from Mysore who worked on repairing the organ. “Also, the organ is complex, when it comes to the technical aspects, which is why we also call it the monster instrument. Most churches that have the pipe organ don’t even play it everyday,” Anand said, adding that the organ at the St Thomas Cathedral at Horniman Circle was dismantled in the 1960s. “Today, buying a pipe organ would cost crores.”

Venkatraman P, the deputy district grandmaster, District Grand Lodge of Bombay, said the organ was made at a cost of ₹ 25,000 when the temple was built more than a century ago. He said the pipes were brought from England, and the cabinet and installations were done in India.

“Four years ago, we decided to open up this space to the common man, so they can come and find out what our group is about and ask questions. As it has always been a closed-door affair, people tend to add a negative colour to the community,” Venkatraman said.

He said that as part of the groups tercentenary celebrations in 2017, they decided to repair the pipe organ and let people experience it during their regular open houses.

Freemasonry began in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in England and Scotland. It entered India in the early 18th century and is considered to be the world’s largest closed-door fraternity.

Mumbai currently has just six such pipe organs from the British era, of which only three are in working condition. The other two are in the Cathedral of the Holy Name, Colaba, and Church of St Andrew, opposite Lion Gate.

Those who are aware about the musical instrument agreed that such organs require a lot of maintenance and their repair is an expensive affair. Further, there are few experts left in the city to look after such instruments.

“The British were replicating their culture in the city when they installed it, it is a huge structure that requires space. But, as there isn’t much expertise available in the city, the repair costs crores, and not all churches can afford this,” said Capt Sebastian Anchees, parishioner of the Christ Church in Byculla, which has a pipe organ that does not work.

Ravi Joshua, an organist at St Thomas Cathedral, said because there aren’t enough pipe organs available, only a handful of experts were left in the city to play the instrument, and most of them learnt to play it abroad. “It is a dangerous circle — it is expensive to maintain and repair, the weather plays an important role, which is why the city is left with few pipe organs, and as a result, there aren’t enough organists. But, there are churches in the southern part of the country that maintain them well,” said Joshua.“There were few places of worship who could afford pipe organs. But, currently there hardly any which are operational because there has been a gradual phase out of the instrument. In the late last century, a pipe organ was brought by NCPA, but that is purely used for concerts,” said Anthony Gomes, Director, Furtados Group of Companies.

For now, events like Sunday’s open house allow Mumbaiites to witness the instrument in action. Barkat Ali Pirani, a businessman from Mazagaon who was at the open house as he believes the preachings of his faith and that of the masons are similar, said, “I liked the architecture of the building and was curious to know about Freemasonry. The most unique thing i came across was the pipe organ, because we don’t get to see it many in our country. I had earlier seen one in Rome,” he said.