As a periodical we are divided on whether a statue for a colonial ruler still needs to be in a public place in Chennai. At one time we had several statues of King George V in our city but now there is just one. And it has some logic for still being in place, for it commemorates the renaming of Black Town as George Town in 1905. The statue itself, funded by the Govinddoss Chaturbhujadoss family, was executed by Sir Bertram Mackennal and has been standing here since 1914.
OLD
NEW
It is not clear as to what possessed our city’s corporation that they had to build a rabbit’s warren of shops all around the statue! Ostensibly meant for hawkers displaced from NSC Bose Road, the outlets are all shut, and the place is rapidly transforming into an open latrine and rubbish tip. The statue itself is completely hidden from view. Our OLD dates to 2021 when King George was out in the open. Our NEW, by Surya Kumar has him trying to release himself from the shops that threaten to bury him. (Please see ‘A locality gets a new identity and a commemorative statue’ for further details.)