Architectural marvel Victoria Memorial Hall turns 100
Victoria Memorial Hall, an architectural marvel which was conceived in 1901 as a magnificent monument to the Queen and also as a “Valhalla of the Indian Empire”, has completed 100 years of its existence.
The marble beauty, one of the most admired and photographed heritage buildings in the country, was inaugurated on December 28, 1921 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) by the then Prince of Wales during his royal tour of India. According to the old archival records, “a jewelled key” was presented to the royal guest by noted industrialist Sir Rajendra Nath Mookerjee on behalf of the contractors, with which the Prince of Wales unlocked the door.
A galaxy of other dignitaries, including the then Governor of Bengal Lord Ronaldshay, were present during the event. Unlike the pomp and splendour witnessed during the opening ceremony of the ‘All India Queen Victoria Memorial’, the day of centenary of its inauguration rather went past in a blip on Tuesday.
While the foundation stone of this celebrated monument was laid by the then Prince of Wales (later King George V) on January 4, 1906, the marble marvel was inaugurated by his son and the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), who was sent to India by him on a goodwill tour after the end of the First World War (1914-1918), as per old archival records. Incidentally, when the foundation stone of the building was laid, Calcutta — the Second City of the British Empire — was the capital of the British Raj, but in the 1911
Delhi Durbar, King George V had announced to shift it to Delhi, and when the memorial was inaugurated, the new capital in Delhi was still under construction, and Calcutta was no more the imperial seat of administration of the British Raj.
The edifice, often shown in films, television series and advertisements, as a representative image of Kolkata, was designed by William Emerson, the chief architect, with inputs from the supervising architect, Vincent Jerome Esch.
It used Indian marble from the Makrana quarries, as used in building the Taj Mahal, according to Victorianweb.com.
Surrounding the iconic dome of the Victoria Memorial Hall are ornate allegorical sculptures of ‘Art’, ‘Architecture’, ‘Justice’, and ‘Charity’, and above its North Porch are ‘Motherhood’, ‘Prudence’ and ‘Learning’.