Victoria Memorial

The Victoria Memorial rises at the southern end of the Maidan on Queen's Way in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, proposed it after Queen Victoria died in January 1901, and the foundation stone was laid in 1906 by the Prince of Wales, the future George V. The building was designed by the British architect William Emerson in a blend of British Renaissance and Mughal elements, with Venetian and Egyptian touches, and was completed in 1921. It is faced in white Makrana marble from Rajasthan, the same quarries that supplied the Taj Mahal, and is crowned by a large central dome topped with a bronze figure of Victory. The structure sits within about 64 acres of landscaped gardens laid out with the help of Lord Redesdale and Sir David Prain, with ponds, lawns and statues of colonial figures. Inside, the central hall holds a large marble statue of Queen Victoria, and the surrounding galleries are arranged thematically, including the Royal Gallery, the Portrait Gallery, the National Leaders Gallery, and the Calcutta Gallery that traces the city's growth from a trading post. The memorial's collection includes paintings by Thomas and William Daniell and Johann Zoffany, Mughal and Persian manuscripts, and personal items of Queen Victoria. The Victoria Memorial Hall was transferred to Indian control after independence and is managed as a museum under the Ministry of Culture. Conservation work has included cleaning of the marble, repairs to the dome, and refurbishment of the galleries. The evening sound-and-light show narrates the history of Calcutta in English and Hindi, and the gardens remain a popular public park for residents of the city.