How a black horse without colonial baggage now gives name to Mumbai’s art district

While in most cases, old structures are restored, in this particular case, the sculptor made a new dark horse whose 25-feet tall statue was inaugurated by the then Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis in 2017.

Kala Ghoda got its name from the black stone statue of King Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) mounted on a horse that was built by Jewish businessman and philanthropist Albert Sassoon. The statue was, however, removed from the precinct in 1965 and subsequently placed inside the Byculla Zoo. Ex-chairman of the Kala Ghoda Association (KGA) Maneck Davar said that in the ’60s due to patriotic fervour a lot of colonial statues were set aside and King Edward VII along with his horse was packed off to Veer Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan (Byculla Zoo) in 1965.

During the previous decade as steps were taken to restore old heritage structures that fell to decay, a suggestion was also put forth to have the Kala Ghoda there so that people knew why the area was called Kala Ghoda. However, rather than wading into controversy by getting back colonial statues, KGA decided to just get back the Kala Ghoda and not its rider.

“We did not want to use the original horse. So, we got a new horse to be sculpted that was eventually put up at a traffic island on the spot and was inaugurated by then CM Devendra Fadnavis in 2017. The original structure is still in the zoo,” Davar said

A release issued by the KGA when the structure was to be inaugurated said, “It was decided by the KGA not to resurrect the past but to create the symbol for the future. Hence, the ‘Spirit of Kala Ghoda’, which embodies ‘the essence of art, culture and the free flow of ideas.”

The 25-feet high structure was designed by architect Alfaz Miller and sculpted by Shreehari Bhosle. The horse was erected in the parking lot facing the Army and Navy Building and David Sassoon Library.