Kala Ghoda

History

The name Kala Ghoda is a reference to the presence of a black stone statue of King Edward VII (as the then Prince of Wales) mounted on a horse that was built by Jewish businessman and philanthropist Albert Abdullah David Sassoon, although this statue was removed from the precinct in 1965 and subsequently placed inside the Byculla Zoo. A local legend stated that the statues of King Edward and the one of Shivaji on a horse at the Gateway of India came to life after midnight and battled it out on the streets. In 2017, the 'Kala Ghoda' returned to the area with a new statue of a similar looking horse without a rider, being commissioned by the Kala Ghoda Association. The statue, titled 'Spirit of Kala Ghoda' was designed by architect Alfaz Miller and sculpted by Shreehari Bhosle.

Prior to the founding of the Bombay Stock Exchange, merchants often traded shares at the junction of Rampart row and Meadow street.

Landmarks

The Esplanade Mansion, India's oldest surviving cast iron building, is in Kala Ghoda. Formerly known as Watson's Hotel, it was the site where films were introduced to India with a screening of the Lumiere Brothers Cinematograph in 1896. The offices of art publication, Marg, are on the third floor of the historic Army and Navy Building.

• Esplanade Mansion, once Mumbai's premier and pioneering Watson's Hotel
• Bajaj Art Gallery
• Bombay Natural History Society
• Jehangir Art Gallery and the Pavement Gallery
• Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, the main museum in Mumbai
• National Gallery of Modern Art
• Elphinstone College
• Rhythm House
• Max Müeller Bhavan – Indo-German cultural centre
• Army & Navy Building, housing the Westside shopping store
• David Sassoon Library
• Ropewalk Street
• Knesseth Eliyahoo Synagogue
• Church of St Andrew and St Columba
• Lion's Gate
• K. R. Cama Oriental Institute, Asia's oldest library and research archive exclusively devoted to Indo-Iranian and Zoroastrian studies
• Mumbai University
• Civil and Sessions Court
• The Great Western Building, formerly Admiralty House.

| File:KalaGhoda, Fort,Mumbai - panoramio (1).jpg | Kala Ghoda Fort | File:Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum JEG1857.jpg | Kalaghoda statue at the Jijamata Udyan, Byculla, Mumbai | File:Watson's-Hotel.jpg | Watson's Hotel in Kala Ghoda. | File:Army and Navy Building Mumbai.jpg |Army & Navy Building in Kala Ghoda | |Kala Ghoda mural depicting a black horse

References

References

1. [https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/kala-ghoda-mumbai-indias-emerging-art-district-1421856646 Kala Ghoda, Mumbai: India's Emerging Art District] ''wsj.com''. Retrieved 4 September 2021
2. "Kala Ghoda Association » Kala Ghoda Arts Festival".
3. [https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/bUEWoABGaTajyxgDTtDAqK/Revenge-of-the-native.html Revenge of the native - LiveMint]
4. (2017-01-03). "Mumbai: Over 50 yrs on, Kala ghoda returns today". The Indian Express.
5. (2017-01-03). "Kala Ghoda in Mumbai gets its dark horse back without King Edward VII". hindustantimes.com/.
6. (1910). "A Financial Chapter In The History Of Bombay City". A.J.Combridge And Company..
7. Choudhury, Chitrangada. (2005-06-24). "Now listed as 'endangered', Watson's Hotel was once toast of Bombay". [[Express Group]].
8. [http://www.marg-art.org/aboutus.asp Marg Magazine website] {{webarchive. link. (2009-05-07)