SUMMARY

The Victoria Memorial is a large marble building in Kolkata , West

Bengal, India, which was built between 1906 and 1921. It is dedicated
to the memory of Queen Victoria (1819–1901) and is now a museum
and tourist destination under the auspices of the Ministry of
Culture.[2] The memorial lies on the maidan (grounds) by the bank of
the Hooghly River, near Jawaharlal Nehru road.
The Victoria Memorial is possibly the most awesome reminder of the
Raj to be found in India. This huge white-marble museum, made from
Makrana marbles from Rajasthan, is filled with a vast collection of
remnants from the period of British Empire rule in India. The forms in
the museum like the great dome, clustered with four subsidiary,
octagonal domed chattris, the high portals, the terrace and the domed
corner towers speak of a splendid richness in architecture. The
Memorial is situated on 64 acres of land with the building covering
338 ft by 228 ft.
VICTORIA MEMORIAL
Architecture
Architect Sir William Emerson laid down the actual plan of the
memorial. The design of the structure represents a fusion of British
and Mughal architecture. White Makrana marbles were used in the
construction of Victoria Memorial Hall and the building was
inaugurated in the year 1921. The massive hall is 338 feet (103 m) by
228 feet (69 m) and rises to a height of 184 feet (56 m).

British government money was not used in its construction at all.

Rather, the British Indian states, along with the individuals who
wanted some favours from the British government, were the main
contributors towards the cost of building the Victoria Memorial
Hall.[citation needed]

The massive Victoria Memorial stands enclosed within 64 acres

(260,000 m2) of blooming gardens. It houses a museum containing a
large collection of memorabilia relating to Queen Victoria and the
British presence in India as well as other exhibits. The Memorial also
contains a Royal Gallery housing a number of portraits of Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert and paintings illustrating their lives.

After India gained independence in the year 1947, certain additions

were made to the Victoria Memorial. These additions formed
National Leader’s Gallery, containing the portraits and relics relating
to Indian independence.
[edit] History
Lord Curzon and Madho Rao Scindia, Maharaja of Gwalior, pose
with hunted tigers, in 1901.

On the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901, Lord Curzon, who

was then Viceroy of India, placed before the public the question of
setting up a fitting memorial to the Queen. He suggested that the most
suitable memorial would be a “stately”, spacious, monumental and
grand building surrounded by an exquisite garden.This was to be a
historical museum where people could see before them pictures and
statues of men who played a prominent part in the history of this
country and develop a pride in their past.The princes and people of
India responded generously to his appeal for funds and the total cost
of construction of this monument amounting to one crore, five lakhs
of rupees, was entirely derived from their voluntary subscriptions.Sir
William Emerson, President of the British Institute of Architects,
designed and drew up the plan of this building, while the work of
construction was entrusted to Messrs. Martin & Co. of Calcutta.
Vincent J. Esch was the superintending architect.
The building is 184 ft high up to the base of the figure of Victory,
which is another 16 ft high. The groups of figures above the north
porch represent Motherhood, Prudence and Learning. Surrounding the
main dome are figures of Art, Architecture, Justice, Charity etc. The
Memorial is situated on a 64 acres of land with the building covering
338 ft by 228 ft. The total cost of construction of this monument
amounting to one crore, and five lakhs of rupees (INR1.05 crore
(US$209,475)) was entirely derived from their voluntary
subscriptions. The Architect entrusted with the design was W.
Emerson. A pupil of William Burges, Emerson had first visited India
almost forty years before. His early works in the sub- continent
included the famous Crawford Markets in Bombay (now Mumbai) in
1865 and the splendid but incomplete All Saints Cathedral in
Allahabad (1869–1893). In these and some other early projects
Emerson experimented with medieval Gothic styles, in the manner of
his teachers. But the design of his other great work in Allahabad,
Muir College in 1873, is more eclectic. Drawing on Venetian,
Egyptian and Deccani sources, this was one of the first essays in the
Indo-Saracenic Movement. Like the contemporary Senate House in
Madras (now Chennai) by R. F. Chisholm, it is a colourful and
extravagant building, combining forms from the Islamic architecture
of various regions with a European structure. Moving from British
India to the princely state of Bhavnagar in Gujrat, Emerson continued
in a similar way with the Takhtsingji Hospital (1879–93) and the
Palace (1894–95). Here at the request of his patron, he introduced
forms from Hindu architecture, such as corbelled arches.
The Victoria Memorial illuminated at night.
Building Material
Like many others, too, he could not help comparing the Memorial
with the Taj Mahal. There is a certain resemblance with, more than
the details mentioned which, lends the building a pervasive Indian
character. It arises, first, from the material. From the very start, even
before he expressed his views on its style, Curzon insisted that the
Memorial should be built of white marble, and in the event the stone
was brought from the same quarries in Makrana, Rajasthan, that
supplied Shah Jahan. There is also a correspondence in the forms: the
great dome, clustered with four subsidiary, octagonal domed chattris,
the high portals, the terrace, and the domed corner towers. There is
even some correspondence in the function: like Shah Jahan, Curzon
conceived the building as a memorial to an Empress and as a
powerful visual statement. This linking of the Mughal and British
periods is sustained by the collection of exhibits within; and it is
typical of the self-presentation of the late Raj, of which Curzon’s
Delhi Durbar and the whole Indo-Saracenic movement are further
examples. In this context, the echo of the Taj Mahal need not have
been an effect deliberately sought by the architect; but it is evident
that Emerson greatly admired the Mughal masterpiece – a youthful
lecture on it which he delivered to the RIBA in 1870 was a sustained
panegyric.
The Victoria Memorial facade, standing tall in Kolkata.
Cornerstone

The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first

stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since
all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining
the position of the entire structure.
Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone,
or replica, set in a prominent location on the outside of a building,
with an inscription on the stone indicating the construction dates of
the building and the names of architect, builder, and other significant
individuals. The rite of laying a cornerstone is an important cultural
component of eastern architecture and metaphorically in sacred
architecture generally.
Some cornerstones include time capsules from, or engravings
commemorating, the time a particular building was built.
Surrounding and Building
The Daniells’ magnificent views of Indian landscapes and antiquities
in both oils and aquatint made an immediate impact on the British
elite. Stylistically correct and conventional as they were, their
magnitude and novelty charmed the romantically inclined for whom
the Graeco-Roman culture was effete. Motifs were freely borrowed
from Oriental Scenery to decorate wallpapers and ceramics, while the
flamboyant domes and minarets of the Royal Pavilion extravaganza at
Brighton were directly inspired by the Daniells’ accurate depiction of
Indian architecture. On the whole, their Oriental Scenery largely
contributed to the British image of India as a land of romance and
glory. Indeed, the Daniells have continued to feed the Raj nostalgia to
this day.

In the Royal Gallery there are oil paintings depicting scenes of Queen
Victoria receiving the sacrament at her coronation in the Westminster
Abbey in June 1838; her marriage with Prince Albert (1840) in the
Chapel Royal at St. James’ Palace; the christening of the Prince of
Wales in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle (1842); marriage of the
Prince of Wales (Edward VII) with Princess Alexandra (1863) ;
Queen Victoria at the first Jubilee service in Westminster Abbey in
1887 and the Second Jubilee service of Queen Victoria at St. Paul’s
Cathedral, June 1897. These are copies of paintings by well-known
artists in the collection of the British royalty. The pianoforte on which
Queen Victoria received tuition in her childhood and the writing desk
and chair constantly used by her for her daily correspondence at the
Windsor Castle occupy the centre of the room. King Edward VII
presented these to the Victoria Memorial. Beside the painting
showing the entry of Prince Wales into Jaipur is displayed here. It is
the largest in oils in India (see details given with the pix). On the
south wall hangs the Russian ‘ artist Verestchagin’s masterpiece
depicting in oils the state entry of King Edward VII, then Prince of
Wales, into Jaipur in 1876. Also to be seen in this hall are
portVictoria and Albert when both were young, by Winterhalter.
[edit] The Daniells
36 years old Thomas Daniell and his nephew William, a lad of
sixteen, sailed out from Gravesend in April 1785, destined for the
East where they were to spend the next eight years. Of humble
origins, they arrived in Calcutta via China early in seventeen eighty-
six, looking for wealthy patrons, and to explore the sublime, the
exotic and the picturesque country. Their spirit was symptomatic of
the first stirring of the romantic movement of the time. Some of the
earliest glimpses of the city of Calcutta – its many new paladian
building, roads and river ghats, temple and churches, and forms of
transport old and new- are captured in Thomas Daniell’s twelve
coloured aquatints, Views of Calcutta. ” The Lord be praised at
length, I have completed my twelve views. The fatigue I have
experienced… has almost worn me out. I am advised to make a trip of
up the country…”, wrote Thomas in November 1788. A tour of India
was a formidable undertaking in those days, but the two Daniells were
undaunted. They covered the length and breadth of India in
palanquins and bullock carts, on horseback, on foot and on boat,
painting Oriental Scenery wherever they went.
Conclusion
The Garden of the memorial was exquisitely designed on a total area
of 64 acre with the building covering an area of 338sq.ft by 228 sq.ft..
On way to the north gate is a bronze statue of Queen Victoria by Sir
George Frampton, R.A.(the pix shown above). The Queen is seated
on her throne, wearing the robes of the Star of India. Approaching the
building from the south, visitors pass the King Edward VII memorial
arch with a bronze equestrian statue of the King by Sir Bertram
Mackennal surmounting it and a marble statue of Lord Curzon by
F.W. Pomeroy, R.A. There are also other statues of various dignitaries
like Lord Bentinck, Governor- General of India (1828–1835), Lord
Ripon (Governor- General of India from 1880 to 1884; the statue of
Sir Rajendranath Mookerjee, the pioneer industrialist of Bengal is on
the eastern side.

There are twenty one gardeners to maintain the garden and the
morning walkers have four associations. Most of the members of the
morning walker associations are the rich and the famous of Calcutta.
But the authority of the memorial has no official link with these
associations.