The Statue of King George V in George Town
Chennai city is expanding multi-fold day by day. The migration population also increases steadily. Most of today's "bloated" Chennai citizens would not know the Original City. When the British built Fort St. George in the 1640s, they called the settlement outside the Fort as the Black Town. This is the original city of Madras or Chennai. All the expansions happened later.
The original city lost its pride long back. The Black Town and the New Black Town were together named George Town. Although the name of the locality still remains George Town as per the records, I wonder if anyone knows this place by this name. The different parts of the area are known as Parrys Corner, Sowcarpet, Pookkadai, Kondithope, Seven Wells, Broadway, Muthialpet, Elephant Gate, Moolakothalam, and so on. But no one calls it George Town. And only a few people know about the statue of King George V, after whom this whole area was named. Even those who see this statue recognize this place merely as a parking lot or urinal. Sadly, no one cares about heritage or history.
When Edward VII was the King of Britain, George V was made the Prince of Wales. He had visited Madras in 1905 CE when he was still a prince. A tablet found in Madras harbor remembers his visit on 24th January 1905.
After his father's death, George became the King of the United Kingdom in 1910 CE. The coronation of King George and his Queen Mary as the Emperor and Empress of India took place in Delhi Durbar on 12th December 1911. The King wore the newly made Imperial Crown. He declared the shifting of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi. Thus, the making of a new planned capital city called New Delhi started.
To commemorate the coronation of the Emperor, the celebration happened throughout the sub-continent. In Madras, the Black Town was renamed George Town. It is said that this was to commemorate the earlier visit to the city by the Emperor and his coronation. In 1914, the 10 feet high statue of the King was put up near the Flower Bazaar Police Station. This is the only surviving statue of King George in George Town. The one that stood near the Port Trust has gone. The statue inside the Flower Bazaar Police Station was shifted to Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.
This statue of the King was presented by the wealthy Gujarati businessman Govindoss Chatoorbhoojadoss. The posters and the scribbles seen on the statue are probably the recognition done by us?
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And the statue itself was made by my grandfather Rao Bahadur M.S.Nagappa at his studio at narasingapuram street,mount road,chennai.Thanks for taking a great picture of the statue , its sad the statue is in ruins and not well kept :-(
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know, madam. Any other statue in Chennai which was made by your grandfather?
DeleteKanagi statue was sculpted by my grandfather rajaram nagappa ..son on Ms nagappa . Many Ambedkar was also done by him . Mani nagappa and rajaram nagappa also sculpted many famous statues in chennai .
DeleteGreat to know about a historian grand daughter. Thanks for making our chennai great ! Am native of chennai and my forefathers lived at the same location called parrys Mint street.
ReplyDeleteI'm a descendant of Govindoss Chaturbhujdoss. He served as the Sherrif of Madras back then.
ReplyDeleteHere's an older photo of the statue and my ancestor.
http://imgur.com/gallery/jx2mA1m
That's great to know, sir. Thanks for sharing the old photograph of the statue and Sri Govindoss Chaturbhujdoss.
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