Victoria Memorial

Curzon proposed the memorial after Victoria's death in 1901 and it was completed in 1921, built in white Makrana marble, the same quarry as the Taj Mahal, in a design mixing classical and Mughal elements with a central dome and a bronze Angel of Victory that turns on ball bearings in the wind. It stands in sixty-four acres of gardens on the Maidan. Inside, twenty-five galleries hold Company-period painting, Daniell aquatints, arms, manuscripts and material on Kolkata's history, so the building now functions as a museum of the empire it was built to commemorate. The dome is lit in the evening and a sound and light show runs.

History

Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, had long planned a historical museum, and after Queen Victoria's death on 22 January 1901 he proposed a grand building with a museum and gardens in her memory. It was built between 1906 and 1921 of white Makrana marble by Martin & Co. of Calcutta, founded by Rajendranath Mukherjee and Thomas Acquin Martin, with work on the superstructure beginning in 1910 (Wikipedia, Victoria Memorial, Kolkata).

Highlights

• The marble hall - Makrana marble under a central dome.
• The turning angel - a bronze figure on ball bearings above the dome.
• The galleries - Company painting, aquatints, arms and Kolkata history.
• The gardens - sixty-four acres on the Maidan around the building.

When to go

October to March; Kolkata summers are hot and humid. The museum closes on Mondays. Evenings show the building lit, with a sound and light programme in season.

Before you go

Photography is prohibited inside the galleries. Gardens and museum charge separately. Queues at weekends are long, and the galleries are dated in presentation.

Nearby

The Maidan surrounds it; St Paul's Cathedral is adjacent.

Key facts