4/5 SUMAN K. 10 months ago on Google โข 25 reviews
Victoria
Memorialย the
magnificent
white
marble
building
at
the
southern
end
of
Calcutta
Maidan
set
up
in
memory
of
Queen
Victoria,
who
died
in
January
1901
at
the
age
of
94.ย lord
curzon,
the
then
viceroy
of
India,
in
order
to
set
up
a
befitting
memorial
for
the
queen,
proposed
the
construction
of
a
mausoleum
in
the
centre
of
a
garden
and
a
museum
in
the
same
complex,
which
would
house
artefacts
pertaining
to
British
rule
in
India.
Its
foundation
stone
was
laid
by
Prince
of
Wales,
later
George
V,
on
4
January
1906,
on
his
princely
excursion
to
Calcutta
and
was
inaugurated
by
Prince
of
Wales,
later
King
Edward
VIII,
on
28
December
1921.
Though
the
memorial
consists
of
numerous
hybrid
features
like
its
Italian-style
statues,
Mughal
domes,
use
of
marble
like
the
Taj
and
tall
elegant
open
colonnades
along
its
sides,
the
building
is
a
splendid
example
of
colonial
style
of
architecture,
which
combines
the
European
style
and
the
Indo-Islamic
style.
The
period
of
European
colonisation
and
the
subsequent
British
rule
in
India
had
its
impact
on
Indian
architecture.
The
main
manifestations
of
this
style
of
architecture
were
churches,
barracks,
forts,
residential
quarters,
administrative
quarters
etc.
The
British
also
introduced
new
techniques
in
the
construction
of
buildings,
which
were
different
from
the
ones
used
by
the
indigenous
people
of
India
at
that
time.
The
memorial
is
one
of
the
finest
examples
of
the
European
style
of
architecture
found
in
India,
which
also
paved
the
way
for
modern
architectural
styles
to
develop
in
post-independent
India.
๏ฟผ
Ground
plan
of
the
Victoria
Memorial
Sir
William
Emerson,
President
of
the
British
Institute
of
Architects,
designed
and
drew
up
the
plan
of
this
building
and
to
supervise
the
construction
of
the
building
on
site
Vincent
J
Esch,
an
assistant
Engineer
in
the
Bengal
Nagpur
Railway,
was
appointed
as
the
superintending
architect.
In
1902,
Emerson
engaged
him
to
prepare
a
sketch
of
his
original
design
for
the
Victoria
Memorial.
The
work
of
construction
was
entrusted
to
Messrs
Martin
and
Co
of
Calcutta.
Building
operations
on
the
memorial
were
slow
to
get
started,
and
had
not
properly
begun
by
the
time
Curzon
left
India
at
the
end
of
1905.
They
were
then
subject
to
further
delays
as
his
successors
had
less
enthusiasm
for
this
inherited
scheme,
and
lengthy
tests
had
to
be
made
on
the
foundations.
Construction
of
the
substructure
began
in
1904,
foundation
stone
was
laid
in
1906,
but
it
was
a
further
four
years
before
work
on
the
superstructure
got
under
way.
By
the
time
the
construction
of
the
memorial
began
in
earnest,
in
1910,
Esch
had
established
himself
as
Calcutta's
leading
architect.
He
was
then
formally
appointed
the
Superintending
Architect
of
the
project.
