Hutatma Chowk

May 1, 1960 is a red-letter day for Maharashtra. But 53 years back, 157 people sacrificed their lives for the formation of our home state - as it broke away from the erstwhile Bombay Presidency.

Pic/Sameer Markande

Hutatma Chowk (Martyrs Square) might miss the eye for the average (read:harried) office-goer but its position as a city landmark is undisputed. This site beside Flora Fountain is a testimony and serves as a memorial to members of Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti who lost their lives when police fired upon their peaceful demonstration.

The area includes a well-manicured lawn, a flame that constantly burns and an outline of the state created from a patch of green. Together, with the Flora Fountain that was placed nearly a century earlier, in 1869, and designed by R Norman Shaw in Britain, both stand roughly at the site of the old Churchgate - one of the tree gates of the Fort.

Flora Fountain

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Ideal after work hours u00a0