Victoria Memorial, Kolkata
22°32′42″N 88°20′33″E / 22.5449°N 88.3425°E
The Victoria Memorial is a large marble monument on the
It is the largest monument to a monarch anywhere in the world. It stands at 64 acres of gardens and is now a museum under the control of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.[1] Possessing prominent features of the Indo-Saracenic architecture, it has evolved into one of the most popular attractions in the city.
History
According to historian Durba Ghosh,
After Victoria's death on 22 January 1901, Curzon wrote to Lord George Hamilton, the Secretary of State for India on 24 January, noting the "importance of Victoria's matriarchy to promoting loyalist feeling."[3] He proposed the construction of a grand building with a museum and gardens.[4] Curzon said on 26 February 1901 in his address to the Asiatic Society,
"Let us, therefore, have a building, stately, spacious, monumental and grand, to which every newcomer in Calcutta will turn, to which all the resident population, European and Native, will flock, where all classes will learn the lessons of history and see revived before their eyes the marvels of the past; and where father shall say to son and mother and daughter — ‘This Statue and this great Hall were erected in memory of the greatest and best Sovereign whom India has ever known. She lived far away over the seas, but her heart was with her subjects in India, both of her own race, and of all others. She loved them both the same. In her time, and before it, great men lived, and great deeds were done. Here are their memorials. This is her monument.’[5]
The government officials, princes, politicians, and people of India responded generously to Lord Curzon's appeal for funds, and the total cost of construction of the monument, amounting to one crore, five lakhs of Rupees, was entirely derived from their voluntary subscriptions.[6][5]
The site chosen was near the present-day
The work of construction was entrusted to Messrs. Martin & Co. of Calcutta, and work on the superstructure began in 1910.[8] In 1911, before construction was finished, George V, the Emperor of India, announced the transfer of the capital of India from Calcutta to New Delhi.[9] Thus, the Victoria Memorial would come to stand in what would be a major provincial capital, rather than the national capital. The Victoria Memorial was completed and formally opened to the public in December 1921 by the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII.[7][8][10]
After 1947, some additions were made to the Memorial.
A smaller Victoria memorial was also constructed in the Hardoi district in North-Western Provinces (in modern Uttar Pradesh), which has since been converted into a city club for recreation. Mahatma Gandhi addressed meetings in Hardoi in the 1930s.
Design and architecture
The architect of the Victoria Memorial was
The gardens of the Victoria Memorial were designed by
On top of the central dome of the Memorial is the 16 ft (4.9 m) figure of the Angel of Victory by Esch, which was cast by H.H. Martyn & Co. of Cheltenham.[15] Surrounding the dome are allegorical sculptures including Art, Architecture, Justice, and Charity and above the North Porch are Motherhood, Prudence and Learning.
The Victoria Memorial would end up with two statues of Victoria rather than one. George Frampton had been commissioned to produce a statue in Calcutta to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. "Cast in bronze and depicts an enthroned and aged Victoria, looking down on her world while wearing the robes of the Star of India and holding the orb and sceptre." It arrived in Calcutta in 1902 and was unveiled on the maidan by Lord Curzon. In January 1914, Curzon commissioned Thomas Brock, who had also created the Victoria Memorial in London to produce a statue of Victoria in her coronation robes to serve as the 'keynote' of the central hall.[3]
The bronze gate at the entrance to the memorial, bearing the royal coat of arms, was also cast by Martyns.
Museum
The Victoria Memorial has 25 galleries.
Victoria Gallery
The Victoria Gallery displays several portraits of Queen Victoria and
Kolkata gallery
In the mid-1970s, the matter of a new gallery devoted to the visual history of Kolkata was promoted by Saiyid Nurul Hasan, the minister for education. In 1986, Hasan became the governor of West Bengal and chairman of the Victoria Memorial board of trustees. In November 1988, Hasan hosted an international seminar on the Historical perspectives for the Kolkata tercentenary. The Kolkata gallery concept was agreed and a design was developed leading to the opening of the gallery in 1992.[5] The Kolkata gallery houses a visual display of the history and development of Kolkata when the capital of India was transferred to New Delhi. The gallery also has a life-size diorama of Chitpur road in the late 1800s.[23]
Gardens
The gardens at the Victoria memorial cover 64 acres (260,000 m2) and are maintained by a team of 21 gardeners. They were designed by Redesdale and David Prain. On Esch's bridge, between narrative panels by Goscombe John, there is a bronze statue of Victoria, by George Frampton. Empress Victoria is seated on her throne. In the paved quadrangles and elsewhere around the building, other statues commemorate Hastings, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, Robert Clive, Arthur Wellesley, and James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie. To the south of the Victoria, Memorial building is the Edward VII memorial arch. The arch has a bronze equestrian statue of Edward VII by Bertram Mackennal and a marble statue of Curzon by F. W. Pomeroy. The garden also contains statues of Lord William Bentinck, governor-general of India (1833–1835), George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, governor-general of India (1880–84), and Rajendra Nath Mookerjee, a pioneer industrialist of Bengal.[5] Following an order of the West Bengal High Court in 2004, an entry fee was imposed for the gardens, a decision welcomed by the general public except for few voices of dissent.[24]
Gallery
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Victoria Memorial with St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata, in the foreground. -
Victoria Memorial illuminated at night. -
Victoria Memorial Illuminated at night -
Summer sunset -
Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata -
Lakes of victoria -
The moon and Angel of Victory at Victoria Memorial -
South side -
King Edward VII Arch in the Victoria Memorial Gardens. -
George Frampton's statue of Queen Victoria outside the Victoria Memorial Hall -
Lion statue at Victoria Memorial -
Victoria Memorial and The 42. -
A sculpture of a Mother holding a child in one hand and a sword in the other hand -
Statue of Motherhood -
Gallery under the dome with scenes from the life of Queen Victoria: 1. The Apotheosis -
2. Jubilee Service at Westminster Abbey -
3. Diamond Jubilee Service at St Paul's Cathedral -
4. Lying in State
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References
- ^ Victoria Memorial Archived 2 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine. www.iloveindia.com.
- ISSN 0018-246X.
- ^ ISSN 1755-1560.
- ISBN 0-8122-0505-7
- ^ ISBN 1-902669-59-2
- ^ "History of the Victoria Memorial Hall". Official Website of the Victoria Memorial Hall. Archived from the original on 13 June 2003.
- ^ ISBN 1-61820-545-5
- ^ a b c "Monuments - Victoria Memorial - Culture and Heritage - Know India: National Portal of India". Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ISBN 0-203-48156-9
- ISSN 1755-1560.
- ^ "Victoria Memorial." Archived 10 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine www.kolkatainformation.com.
- ISBN 8171417159, 9788171417155. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.
- ISBN 0-85728-517-3, 9780857285171. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.
- ISBN 3-640-92977-2, 9783640929771. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.
- ^ Whitaker, John, "The Best: a history of H.H. Martyn & Co", 1985, Page 136
- ISBN 8176484555, 9788176484558. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.
- ISBN 1-134-83041-6, 9781134830411. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.
- ISBN 1-135-86402-0, 9781135864026. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.
- ISBN 0-571-28113-3, 9780571281138. Accessed at Google Books, 13 December 2013.
- ^ a b "The Royal gallery." www.victoriamemorial-cal.org. Archived 24 February 2005 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^ Dutta A. "Gallery reopens at Victoria Memorial after a decade." The Hindu, 12 September 2012. Accessed 14 December 2013.
- ^ Victoria Memorial Hall. Archived 6 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine www.culturalindia.net. Accessed 14 December 2013.
- ^ "Calcutta Gallery." www.victoriamemorial-cal.org. Archived 22 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 1 January 2017.
- ^ "Victoria Fee for Good Cause". Times of India. 21 December 2004. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
External links
