Victoria Memorial (VM) – I would like to call it the Taj Mahal of the East! Taj was built by Shah Jahan for his beloved wife. Victoria Memorial was built by Lord Curzon for his Queen - Victoria. This too was built as a memorial to the queen after her death.
Shah Jahan spent the money to build Taj Mahal from the exchequer while Lord Curzon built Victoria Memorial by collecting voluntary donations from the public. The princes and the people of India donated generously for this. Total amount spent was one crore five lakhs. King George V, then the Prince of Wales, laid the foundation stone on January 4, 1906 and it was formally opened to the public in 1921.
Like Shah Jahan, Curzon too wanted the entire structure to be in white marble. Curzon even made sure that the marbles for VM were brought from the same quarries – Makrana of Rajastan - from where the marbles of Taj Mahal were brought. Incidentally behind both these wonderful and gigantic structures were women (I wonder why no such beautiful structure was built for any man by a lady! Does it mean that a man loves his lady more than she loves him? Perhaps Yes!)
There are many striking similarities between Taj Mahal and Victoria Memorial. 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 concept; like Shah Jahan, Curzon conceived this structure as a memorial to an Empress and as a powerful visual statement!
VM was constructed by Messrs. Martin & Co. of Calcutta under the supervision of Vincent Esch. The building is 184 ft high up to the base of the figure of Victory, which is another 16 ft high.
There are many allegorical sculptures in VM; Statue of Motherhood, Prudence, Learning and Victory to name a few.
The people of Kolkata are very proud of their Victoria Memorial and considering that it is Kolkata , it is reasonably well preserved!!
1 comment:
Reminds me of the days i was in Calcutta.
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