The Framji Dadabhoy Alpaiwalla Museum was created due to one man’s passion for collecting artifacts
"The biggest challenge for a museum is to bring objects to life,” said patron of the arts, urban environmental activist and businessman Cyrus Guzder while reopening to the public the Framji Dadabhoy Alpaiwalla Museum (AM) situated in Khareghat Colony on March 27, 2025. Guzder termed the 73-year-old community Museum that had been undergoing a makeover for over a decade, "a wonderful institution gifted to the city of Bombay.” Stating that many museums had their origins in "one person’s passion for collection,” Guzder referred to Alpaiwalla, a bullion trader, filling 11 rooms of his house at the corner of Princess Street next to the Anjuman Atash Behram with artifacts he had collected, but added that the rooms included his bedroom! Alpaiwalla "slept in the kitchen for seven years!” said Guzder.
Top: Framji Alpaiwalla; above: Ervad (Dr) Jamshed Unvala; above r: entrance to the F. D. Alpaiwalla Museum
Above from far l: Dr Adil Malia, Maharukh Noble,
Anahita Desai, Feroza Punthakey Mistree,
Dr Pheroza Godrej, Cyrus Guzder, Viraf Mehta, Armaity Tirandaz,
Xerxes Dastur, Hoshang Jal Photo: Harshad Panchal
He had "not only a passion for collecting, but an obsession.” He assembled antiques from ferias (hawkers), jaripuranwalas (buyers of old goods) and dealers, maintained detailed, descriptive catalogs on all objects, noted a press release from the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) issued around November 1981 when the Museum was inaugurated by the Vice President of India M. Hidayatullah on November 7, 1981 during the 300th anniversary celebrations of the BPP at the Birla Matushri Sabhagar. (Hidayatullah termed the Museum artifacts "a remarkable collection, small but selective.”) Alpaiwalla unfortunately died in 1951, a year before his collection was housed in the Museum which originally opened in 1952. The trustees of the BPP that own and administer the institution wisely procured the services of a seasoned Zoroastrian scholar-priest originally from Navsari, Ervad (Dr) Jamshed Unvala, who brought not only his scholarship but also his collection of artifacts he had collected over the years while researching and excavating ancient sites. From Alpaiwalla’s vast collection and his own, Unvala curated the items for display.
As chairman of the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India [now renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS)]) board of trustees, Guzder said the trustees "spent a lot of time philosophizing on what a museum is.” The origin of a museum "often starts with a single individual’s collection.” A person’s motivation to collect is often "to hold on to values that are vanishing or have vanished.”
A museum had as its language, its objects. "But objects by themselves are dead,” noted Guzder. "Each object had to tell a story.” They had to be framed in a context, a timeline, labeled — in several languages (English, Hindi, Marathi) and now even Braille. The items on display had to provide a context from which they came and should "speak to its audience.” His sentiments echoed those of AM’s earlier curator, archeologist, the late Nivedita Mehta who told Parsiana in 1983, "Museums have to be a dynamic part of society,” not "glorified godowns” full of cracked pottery, useless coins, and ancient tattered documents with indecipherable lettering (see "Alpaiwalla Museum, Tracing Traditions,” Parsiana, May 1983). Guzder praised the two advisors to the BPP for the Museum, Dr Pheroza Godrej and Firoza Punthakey Mistree for "reimagining the Alpaiwalla Museum for us,” in a limited time and space (6,150 sq ft)…both the Pherozas are doing a fantastic job… The AM is a real treasure house for the display of the history of our community.” A sentiment shared by the evening’s compere Tinaz Nooshian who credited "the unmatched and unmistakable” duo for the "remarkable makeover.” The Museum has "both an archeological and ethnographic” identity, said Guzder.
Godrej, who is chairwoman of the Museum Society of Mumbai, explained the uphill task they faced resurrecting AM. The refurbishing cost over five crore rupees (USD 580,338) with Rs 1.25 crores (USD 145,084) emanating from the BPP for the civil work to the structure and Rs 4 crores (USD 462,271) from the ministry of culture, government of India for setting up the objects. She had been informed of government grants being awarded for "rejuvenation” of smaller, lesser known museums. But "getting a government grant is no easy matter. It’s a huge procedure,” stated Godrej adding though that the ministry had been "very generous” and had shown them the intricacies of working with the government. "They held our hands right through these seven years.” Covid caused some of the delay. Government officials would visit to inspect the site, regularly audit the accounts and work to ensure they were "valid and honest…that’s the way we are.”
Godrej singled out for mention the "gorgeous chandeliers” that were hung in the first floor memorial hall as there was no room for them in the Museum. They were gifted by the Jejeebhoy family.
Priyanka Chandra, director of the commemoration and memorial division of the ministry of culture, addressing the gathering online, lauded the "efforts to preserve the heritage of the Parsi community.” The ministry "supports institutions that educate, protect and preserve India’s diverse heritage,” she said.
BPP chairman Viraf Mehta praised the "professionalism and expertise” of Godrej and Punthakey Mistree, observing the Museum’s reopening would "not have been possible without their involvement. He termed the AM the "only Parsi Irani Zoroastrian museum in the world.” (The Parsi Zoroastrian Association of South East Asia, Singapore has devoted two floors to display Zoroastrian artifacts while the Zoroastrian Association of Houston Library displays several items too along with its research material. The AM though has a larger area with a greater collection of historical exhibits — editors.) Keeping in mind a theft that had taken place in the Museum some decades back, people inquired whether the items on display, some dating back 2,000 years or more, could be insured. How would one go about "putting a price on something that is priceless?” Mehta queried.
In her vote of thanks, author and Zoroastrian Studies stalwart Punthakey Mistree was optimistic the Museum would make its mark as a center for learning, a repository of "our rich Parsi, Iranian Zoroastrian heritage” while also featuring the art and culture tourist landscape of Bombay. She mentioned plans to host a seminar next January on The Legacy of Parsi Women, a subject dear to her. The meet will be held in association with the British Institute of Persian Studies, the Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, the BPP and AM.
Amongst those thanked and remembered were conservation architects Vikas Dilawari and Abha Narain Lambah and Nivedita Mehta, the present deputy curator Ervad Kerman Fatakia and administrator-cum-receptionist Tennaz Vakil and the government officials who so assiduously assisted and gave the grant. A book titled Framji Dadabhoy Alpaiwalla Museum, edited by Godrej and Punthakey Mistree, and designed and printed by JAK Printers, was released at the inaugural. The 96-page book, illustrated with items displayed in the AM, features articles on the community, overseas trade, and biographical details on Alpaiwalla and Unvala. A caption on the porcelain items on display stated: "Almost all porcelain came as ballast to add weight to the empty holds of trading ships and opium clippers returning from China. Each piece was wound tight with coir ropes… to prevent breakage. However, porcelain vases and jars inevitably broke during the rough journey back home. These pieces were collected and sold to builders who cleverly used the broken pieces as mosaic tiles for the flooring of the homes they built. Old Parsi homes in Bombay still have floors made of bits of broken Chinese porcelain.”
The Museum is open Monday through Saturday, from 10.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.; it’s closed on Sundays. There is no admission charge.
Top: section of the audience Photo: Harshad Panchal;
2nd row, from l: Tinaz Nooshian; Punkhakey Mistree,
Godrej, Guzder, Mehta Photo: Harshad Panchal;
above: Ervad Kerman Fatakia (l); Tennaz Vakil
Funding the museum
Sapur Desai, former secretary of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet in his landmark book, The History of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet 1860-1960, notes of the F. D. Alpaiwalla Museum, that when funds fell short for the creation of the Muncherji P. Khareghat Memorial Hall, "Framji D. Alpaiwalla, a curio collector and well-known social worker, came to the rescue. He, as executor, offered to give Rs 60,000 from the estate of Rustomji B. Ranji on condition that the trustees construct a wing in the latter’s name and establish there a museum, the artifacts whereof Alpaiwalla would himself provide by transferring his whole collection. The trustees accepted the conditions and the Khareghat Memorial Hall was built in 1952. The building has an auditorium on the first floor to accommodate about 250-300 persons and there is the Ranji Wing on the ground floor wherein Alpaiwalla’s curios are kept. They contain, in his own words: ‘Indian currency notes from one hundred rupee notes downwards from 1835 to the present day; a systematic collection of thousands of coins — ancient and modern — Parthian, Sasanian, Pre-Moghul, Moghul, early Indian and Bri(tish) Indian last from 1669; historical medals of award from Charles I onwards; 200 various types of rare old Chinese porcelain; rare stamp albums; brass, copper and other idols of Hindu mythology; emergency currencies of the countries involved in World War I; collection of Native Art Industry; fiscal stamps; manuscripts and other rare articles.’
"A High Court decree enabled Alpaiwalla and his co-executor to hand over Ranji’s estates to the trustees.”
1. Chinese porcelain;
2. terracotta bath-tub coffin alongside a model of a dakhma;
3. statue of King Ashurnasirpal II;
4. replica of sanctum sanctorum of a fire temple;
5. model of an adobe home in Yazd
Photos 3, 4 & 5: Harshad Panchal
6 & 7: Parsi attire;
8. garas on display
Photo: Harshad Panchal;
9. kors;
10. depiction of the Layla and Majnun story
11. brass embellished door,
12. Polea Desai door, Navsari
Photos 11 & 12: Harshad Panchal;
13. ornate chandelier;
14. model of a Chinese junk;
15. Chinese figurines
On display
A recreated model of an adobe Iranian home in Yazd with a woman attired in simple garb stands unobtrusively in one corner in contrast to the prominently displayed lavish garments of yesteryear Parsis in Bombay. The ceremonial attire of a Parsi in dagli, a child wearing a sudreh-kusti, a traditionally dressed lady, topis, ijars, garas and kors that never fail to fascinate are seen in other showcases in the same room.
To the left is the section on "Migration of Zoroastrians from Iran to India” featuring an undated Mesopotamian receptacle for the dead, as also a replica of a dakhma. Earthenware and terracotta figurines and toys, Imperial seals and coins, bricks from the palace of King Darius, are in the Museum collection as also a replica of the famous Cyrus cylinder. One wall is covered by a glass etching that is a replica of the western staircase of the palace of King Darius in Persepolis.
In another room to the right is the layout of a well-furnished home of a Parsi merchant (presumably Sir Jamsetji Jejeebhoy) in Bombay with the choicest carved furniture, an imposing chandelier, porcelain vases and portraits. Along one wall stands an original 16th century doorway from Navsari and another brass embellished door from Gujarat.
Most interesting to non Parsis though would be the model of the entrance of the Maneckji Sett fire temple, and the layout of the sanctum sanctorum, the attire of priests and a narration of the journey of the Iranshah fire related on one wall.
"Make it dynamic”
(Parsiana, May 1983)
"Museums are the greatest instruments of non-formal education,” observed (the then) director of the Prince of Wales Museum Dr S. Gorakshkar. He considered the artifacts in the F. D. Alpaiwalla Museum invaluable and exclusive and the Museum itself one to be proud of.
According to Gorakshkar, there is enough material in the Museum to create even four exhibitions a year, For example, if shipbuilding is taken up as the subject, the technology of this craft can be traced with the help of models and pictures with a section reserved for the pioneer shipbuilders, the Wadias, who dominated the Indian industry for 111 years and built ships even for the Royal Navy. Similarly, aviation could be traced from infancy to its present magnificence with a section for the Tatas who laid the foundations of civil aviation in India 90 years ago.
There is immense potential but a lot of groundwork still needs to be done. Alpaiwalla had kept descriptive catalogs of the antiques he collected, but the antecedents of the objects are not known. Presently the Museum authorities are involved in researching facts and classifying the exhibits. It is long and tedious work, but as Nivedita Mehta explained, "We are at the developing stage now. If we had to start from scratch, I would say, it would be a very difficult task. But once you have a museum, the only thing you can do is to make it dynamic.”