Victoria Memorial

Victoria memorial built between 1906 and 1921 . It is a large marble building in Kolkata . The Victoria memorial is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria and is now a museum under the auspicious of the Ministry of Culture . The memorial lies on the Jawaharlal Nehru Road (also known as Chawringhee Road) .

In January 1901 , on the death of Queen Victoria , the then Victoria of India, suggested the creation of a fitting memorial.

The Prince of Wales law the foundation stone on 4^th January , 1906 and it was formally opened to the public in 1921 .

The most attractive of all the artistic depiction of Prince of Wales’ state entry in Jaipur in 1876 by Russian artist Vassilli Verestchagin. This is one of the Vassilli’s masterpiece and is also the largest in the world measuring 7*5m.

Indian states , individuals of the British Raj and the British government in London funded the Victoria memorial.

The Victoria Memorials architect was William Emerson. The design is in the two – Saracenic Revivalist Style . The Building is 103 by 69m and rises to a height of 56m . The memorial is constructed of White Makrana marble . The gardens of memorial was designed by Lord Redesdale and David Prain. After designing the temporary exhibition building for the Delhi Durban , Curzon found Esch to be a suitable assistant for Emerson .

The memorial has 25 galleries . The memorial has the largest single collection of the works of Thomas Daniell and his nephew , William Daniell . It also has a collection of antiquarian books such as the illustrated works of William Shakespeare , the Arabian Nights and the Rubiat by Omar Khayyam as well as books about Kathak dance and Thumri music by  Nawab Wazid Ali Shah .

There is a bronze statue of Queen Victoria seated on a bronze throne wearing robes of the Star of India on the marble staircase at the entrance of the memorial.

The Royal Gallery displays a number of portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert , and paintings illustrating their lives by Jansen and Wintershalter . The oil paintings are copies of those in London (England) .

In the mid – 1970s the matter of a new gallery devoted to the visual history of Calcutta in 1986 . Saiyid Narul Hasan became the governor general of West Bengal and the Chairman of the board of trustees of the Victoria Memorial . The Calcutta Gallery houses a visual display of the history and development of Calcutta from Job Charnok . The Gallery also has a life-size diaroma of Chitpur Road .

William Emerson was the chief architect of the memorial. The Gardens of the Memorial cover by 64 acres and are maintained by a team of 21 gardeners . The Redesdale David Prain designed it . There is a bronze statue of Victoria, by George Framton , on Esch’s bridge , between narrative panels by Goscombe . John Victoria is seated wearing the robes of the Star of India on her throne.

Power is represented by the two massive marble lion statues at the main entrance of memorial grounds. Memorial was adorn by the two large pools.

Other statues Commemorate Hastings, Charles Cornwallis , 1^st Marquees Cornwallis , Robert Clive, Arthur Wellesley and James Brown Ramsay , 1^st Marquess of Dalhousie in the paved quadrangles and elsewhere around the building . In the south of the Victoria memorial building in the Edward VII memorial arch . The garden also has Lord William Bentinck , governor general of India, George Robinson , 1^st Marquess of Ripon , governor general of India and Rajendra Nath Mukherjee, a pioneer industrialist of Bengal . An entry fee was imposed for the gardens , a decision welcome by the general public except for few vows of descent following an order of the Calcutta high Court in 2004 .

The Victoria Memorial is influenced by both British and Mughal elements which is a fine example of the Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture. This style became very popular when our country is under British regime. The location included the Presidency Jail that was demolished and later shifted to Alipore before the construction of the memorial.

Events:- Regular Light and Sound shows except Mondays, Holi, national holidays and during July to September. Rate of tickets are Rs. 10/- and Rs. 20/- . The shows timing are as follows-

Garden- 5:30 AM – 6:15PM.  Gallery- 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM everyday.

Closed on Monday and National Holidays.

Everyone can take food inside the memorial  but its not allowed inside the museum.

-Written By Tamoghna Dey