Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal known as "the city of joy" situated on the bank of beautiful Hooghly River. It is enriched with the treasure of culture and heritage in which Victoria Memorial is one of them. If someone visits Kolkata one may come through various places that would give the glimpse of history. From the very old lanes of the city, Kolkata to the bustling and outstanding esplanade one would never escape pulse of the city.
Victoria memorial, a marble marvel, was made of white marbles, with the peaceful environment, was built in Queen Victoria's memory and the foundation stone for King George V. put grand building. It was opened to the public in the year 1921. Rare collections of paintings, Coins, sculptures, Stamps, Arms and other Historic Artifacts are also here for the exhibition. Nearly 10,674 Books and Periodicals are present in its rich library collection of rare books of dates back to 1870 are also present there.
On the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901, Lord Curzon, who was the Viceroy of India, settled a fitting memorial to the Queen, and placed it before the public. He suggested that, the most suitable memorial would be "stately,” spacious, monumental and huge building is surrounded by charming and beautiful garden which refreshes people's soul by its soothing atmosphere.The people and princes of India responded generously to his appeal for total costs of construction and funds. Sir William Emerson, President of the British Institute of Architects, he designed the plan and drew up this history.
Sir William Emerson using Indo-Saracen style designed the memorial. Lord Redesdale and Sir David Prain designed the gardens. In the year 1906, the foundation stone of the memorial and the monument serves as a tribute to the British Empire in India for their success.
British government money was not utilised in the construction. Rather, the Britishers along with the individuals who wanted some favors from the British government were the main contributors towards the cost of building "the Victoria Memorial Hall.”
The massive Victoria Memorial stands enclosed within 64 acres of blooming gardens. It has a museum containing a large collection of memories related to Queen Victoria and the British presence in India as well as other exhibits. It also contains a Royal Gallery housing a number of portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and paintings illustrating their lives.
The Memorial Hall is a massive structure surrounded by equally massive garden and a lake.. The museum, which is situated inside the memorial hall, has a good collection of painting of British era India. Small collections of early weapons like talwars, rifels, etc and one section of museum is dedicated to the history of Kolkata, depicting aspect of Bengal's rich culture and history. The people who are into history can spend their great hours in this museum alone.
The garden is very huge where one can easily get place to sit and enjoy the structure of Memorial hall. there are many small food stalls just outside the compound where people enjoys their fast foods like egg rolls, chicken patties, ice cream, fruit juice, phuchkas, etc.as it is a tourist spot.
Overall, it is really an inspiring place for the people who are into architecture and history.
Thus at present the Victoria memorial has a collection of sculptures, paintings, weapons, maps, stamps, coins, textiles and artifacts etc..
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