Victoria Memorial was built by the British to honour their Queen Victoria and also the Empress of India at that time, Queen Victoria.
Victoria Memorial is a Memorial Hall located in Kolkata, West Bengal. This memorial hall was built by the British to honor their queen and also the Empress of India at that time, Queen Victoria.
Queen Victoria was the longest-reigning queen of the United Kingdom. In fact, it was under her rule that the British Empire expanded to such an extent that it covered almost the entire world. It is located in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal.
There was a time when Kolkata was the British capital of India. The current purpose of the Victoria Memorial is a museum for tourist attraction. It is now an organization under the Ministry of Culture of the Indian Government.
Victoria Memorial Information
| Location | – | Kolkata, West Bengal |
| Construction started | – | 1906 |
| Architects | – | William Emerson, Vincent Esch |
| Built | – | by Lord Curzon in the memory of late Queen Victoria |
| Timings | – | All days (5:30 am – 6:15 pm) Monday – Holiday |
History of Victoria Memorial
Lord Curzon was a viceroy of India. Victoria Memorial was the idea of Lord Curzon. Upon the death of Queen Victoria in the year 1901, Lord Curzon got the idea of building a public memorial in the memory of the Honorable Queen Victoria.
He presented this idea before the public and the princes and the royals of India liked it. They were quite generous with the funds and the fund for building Victoria Memorial reached up to 1 core and 5 Lakh.
The basic idea was to build a beautiful memorial hall surrounded by beautiful gardens. The hall would contain the memorials of the great British Ruler and the great British Queen who ruled over India for such a long period of time.
The major aim of this memorial was to serve as a museum containing paintings, sculptures, costumes, and other British accessories which will remind the Indians how great the British rulers were in India. It was named “Victoria Memorial” remind the people of the deceased British queen.
Sir William Emerson was a great British architect who designed this building. Moreover, Messrs Martin and Co. Of Calcutta was given the contract for the construction of Victoria Memorial.
[ Also, Checkout: Haji Ali Dargah ]
The Architecture of Victoria Memorial
The Victoria Memorial building is 184 ft high. Sir William Emerson was a great British architect who designed this building. Moreover, Messrs Martin and Co. Of Calcutta was given the contract for the construction of Victoria Memorial.
Sir William Emerson was inspired by the architecture of Mughal Monuments in India and therefore the architecture of Victoria Memorial has Mughal touch to it.
Some even believe that if you look closely at it you can see that its dome is pretty much similar to that of the Taj Mahal.
Like the Taj Mahal, it is also made from pure white marble. It is also termed as the British Jewel of Kolkata. Kolkata is a city which is full of British Architecture and Art.
The reason behind this is that Kolkata(Calcutta) at that time was the first choice of capital by the British. But due to excessive rebellions and constant freedom fighting incidences, the capital was shifted to Delhi.
The main dome of the building hold figure for justice, art, and charity. The whole complex of the Victoria Memorial is spread over an area of 64 acres. It is a very famous tourist attraction in Kolkata.
