Kala Ghoda Art District

Kala Ghoda is a small, crescent-shaped district at the southern end of the Fort that has become Mumbai's art quarter. It is bounded roughly by the docklands to the east, Regal Cinema to the south, Flora Fountain and Hutatma Chowk to the north and the Oval Maidan to the west. The name means black horse, after a statue of King Edward VII on horseback that stood here until 1965 and now stands at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Byculla. In 2017 a new riderless horse, the Spirit of Kala Ghoda, was installed in the area.

The pleasure of Kala Ghoda is that so much is packed into a few streets. The main museum of the city, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, stands at its southern edge, with the Jehangir Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Modern Art close by. Smaller galleries and institutions include the Bajaj Art Gallery, the Max Mueller Bhavan and the Bombay Natural History Society. Among the historic buildings are the Knesseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, the David Sassoon Library, Elphinstone College, the Church of St Andrew and St Columba and the Army and Navy Building.

Do not miss Esplanade Mansion, formerly Watson's Hotel, which is India's oldest surviving cast-iron building. In 1896 it hosted the first screening in India of the Lumiere Brothers' films. It was reported as endangered in the mid-2000s, so admire it from the street.

Every February the district hosts the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, spread across the streets and venues of the district. It draws large crowds, especially at weekends, so if you are visiting then, plan to arrive early. The rest of the year, a self-guided walk of two to three hours, mixing gallery visits with architecture, is a relaxed way to spend a morning. Galleries often change their exhibitions every few weeks, so check what is showing before you go.

Kala Ghoda suits art lovers, architecture enthusiasts and anyone who enjoys wandering on foot. The streets are relatively quiet by Mumbai standards, though pavements can be uneven. The area has plenty of places to stop for coffee or lunch, and it is a short walk from the Gateway of India and Colaba Causeway to the south and the Fort's business streets to the north.