The Flora Fountain was designed and executed entirely in England and transported via ship to India. The fountain is named after Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers and the season of spring. The statue of the goddess stands atop the fountain.
The Flora Fountain has in total 64 sprouts located at the side and the corners. The water collects in a basin running around the base, and the overflow gets collected in a circular pool, from where it recycles through a complex system of internal plumbing. The theme represented is the flowering of life in the abundance of water and the care of the feminine nurturer.
Flora Fountain shares the intersection of Dadabhai Naoroji Road, Mahatma Gandhi Road and Veer Nariman Road with “The Martyr with a Flame” memorial, which was added in 1961, and the intersection was renamed Hutatma Chowk in memory of those who were martyred during the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement (Movement for United Maharashtra).
Over 150 years of its existence, the Flora Fountain had deteriorated due to exposure to the elements and the pollution caused from vehicular emissions due to its location at a busy traffic intersection. Not only had the Portland stone turned dark, but the fountain was leaking. Major restoration work was undertaken in 2017 by BMC and INTACH under the supervision of architect Vikas Dilawari.
Over time, these figures had dilapidated and suffered damage from exposure. In this statue, for example, the left hand was missing. During its restoration, the missing hand was re-modelled after careful study of old photographs. Craftsmen made replicas from Porbandar stone, and the hand was fixed using stainless steel.
Flora Fountain was built in honor of Sir Bartle Frere, who laid out plans to restructure Bombay along the newly laid out east-west axis (from Town Hall to Churchgate Station) and the north-south axis (from CSMT to Gateway of India).