Kala Ghoda

Kala Ghoda is a precinct or district in South Mumbai, India. The name means Black Horse, a reference to a black stone statue of King Edward VII (as the then Prince of Wales) mounted on a horse. Although this statue was removed in 1965 to storehouses of the Bhau Daji Lad Museum (formerly the Victoria & Albert Museum (Mumbai)) in Byculla, Central Mumbai, the name persists. The statue is now in the "Jijamata Udyan" in Byculla.

A reprint of a photograph of the district showing the statue in position is to be seen framed over the entrance to the elevator in the Commerce House building located between Ropewalk Street and Meadows Street (Nagindas Master Road), just off V.B. Gandhi Road.

The district is Mumbai's premiere art district. Each year, the area hosts a cultural festival promoting the arts.

In 1896, India's first film was shot here.

The area is sandwiched between Mumbai Port's off-limits docklands to the east, Regal Cinema to the south, Fountain to the north and Oval Maidan to the west.

North of Kala Ghoda is the Fountain district and south of it is a district variously called after the S.P. Mukerjee Chowk (former Wellingdon Circle), (Prince of Wales) Museum or the Regal Cinema. North-east is located the Bombay Stock Exchange district, also called Dalal Street, called after the lane on which the actual Stock Exchange is located.

Prominent landmarks include:
* The dilapidated and slummified Esplanade Mansion, once Mumbai's premier and pioneering Watson's Hotel
* [http://groups.msn.com/BajajArtGallery–]
* Jehangir Art Gallery and the Pavement Gallery
* Prince of Wales Museum
* 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
* St. Andrew and Columba's Church
* Lion 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 dilapidated Great Western Building, formerly Admiralty House.

Places to Eat

* Bombay Blues
* Copper Chimney
* Noodle Bar
* Gelato
* Joss
* Silk Route
* Chetana

External links

* [http://www.kalaghodaassociation.com Kala Ghoda Art Festival Organizing Committee]
* [http://www.saffronart.com/artfest/kalaghoda_area.asp A History of the District]