Lonesome George

Under the pretext of easing traffic flow around the new Assembly complex being constructed on Mount Road, the magnificent statue of King Edward VII which was there has been carted away. Even more mindlessly, and shamefully, the statue of King George V near the War Memorial was also hacked off - both father and son are now covered in sackcloth and dumped somewhere on the grounds of the Government Museum. Sad.

The argument that the statues were reminders of the dark period of imperialism may have been valid at some time, but both Eddie and George had become part of the city's landscape over the years. If nothing else, the statues were much easier on the eye than several others that had come up at various street corners.

Now, the only statue of King George V that remains is the one on NSC Bose Road. Presumably, it has been left standing because it was put up by public demand and sponsored by Govindadoss Chatoorbhoojadoss, who was Sheriff of Madras in 1914 when this statue was unveiled. Today it stands alone - but keeping a watchful eye on all the vehicles around!

By George! Again!!

Rather than the statue itself, it is the plaque on its pedestal that has come up. Up on this pedestal is King Goerge V, standing tall, sceptre in hand and facing east, looking towards the Madras High Court and beyond to the Port. In 1913, when the public of Madras wanted to put up this statue, the entire cost was picked up by one man - Govindoss Chathoorbhoojadoss, who was appointed Sheriff of Madras in 1914, the same year this statue was unveiled.

George the second

That's not true, really. This is actually King Edward VII, father of King George V, the King Emperor. I did not realize that there are quite a few statues of this man the two kings, father and son, around Chennai - this is the second one such statue featuring on this blog (hence the title of this post! - the first one, of King George V, is here). I'm not sure if there is any significance to the placement of these statues, but it would be a reasonable guess that they were distributed in such a way that no matter what road one took to or from Fort St George, one would have to pass under the gaze of one of the monarchs!

Goofed pretty badly on this one! For some reason, I took it for granted that the statue here is also that of King George V; even though I learnt about my error a while ago, was too lazy to get here and correct it, until now! (March 6, 2010)

Fading glory

He was the only one to visit the 'Jewel in the Crown' during his reign as monarch. Titled 'King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India', George V visited India twice, once when he was still the Prince of Wales and later, as the ruler of the British dominions. Though he was not a great one for travelling, India appears to have held a fascination for him, judging from his repeated visits. The second visit was timed to coincide with the 3rd Delhi Durbar, a ritual commemorating the ascension of a new ruler to the throne. Neither his grandmother Queen Victoria, nor his father, King Edward, had been present at the Delhi Durbar held in their honour; George V not only graced the occasion, but also was given a new crown; one so heavy that the King's head hurt.

This statue was probably unveiled at around the same time as the 3rd Delhi Durbar, sometime in 1912/13. I can only guess at that, because there seems to be no record of the statue having been installed. On the pedestal itself, the inscriptions have faded out, so there is nothing to be gained from getting very close to the statue, either. In some ways, we are lucky that it is still around: it is obviously not getting much attention despite being very close to the seat of government, so the inference is that it is being allowed to go to seed.

It has caught up with the times; I had mentioned (here and here) how some of the newer statues in Chennai don't seem to have any information about them; these days, the King Emperor has also joined that list!