The Kala Ghoda area developed as a cultural and educational node from the mid-1860s after the removal of the Fort ramparts when several institutions were built in the vicinity on newly laid out plots. Watsons Esplanade Hotel was the first to be completed in 1869 and it was here that cinema was introduced to India in 1896 with the historic screening of the Lumire Brothers Cinematographe. The David SassoonLibrary (1870), the University Library and Convocation Hall (1874), the Royal Alfred Sailors Home (1876), the Kenneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue (1884), Elphinstone College (1888) and the Army & Navy Building (1899) were also completed in the neighbourhood in the closing decades of the 19th century. In the early 20th century came the Prince of Wales Museum and the Royal Institute of Science anchored by the Cowasji Jehangir Hall (now the National Gallery of Modern Art) in the centre. In later decades, the K R Cama Oriental Institute,
Hornbill House headquarters of the Bombay Natural History Society, the Jehangir Art Gallery and Max Mueller Bhavan were also built in the vicinity.
The potential of the area as an art district was obvious: like many other international art districts, Kala Ghoda has long been a meeting place for artists, sculptors, photographers, musicians, writers, publishers, journalists and students. Over the decades, these groups have met to exchange news and views at the many cultural and educational institutions, art galleries, libraries, museums, craft centres, book and music shops like Chetna and Rhythm House and the numerous restaurants and cafeterias that dot the area including the former Wayside Inn and Samovar.
