How to Reach Victoria Memorial Kolkata

Location	Opposite to the Planetarium on the Southern side of Maidan.
Photography charges	Photography is strictly prohibited
Parking	Hourly parking charges applicable
Nearest Railway Station	Howrah Railway Station
Nearest Metro Station	Maidan
Nearest International Airport	Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport
Time Required For Sightseeing	Approximately 2 Hours
How To Reach	1. Local buses and taxis are available from various points of the city. One can also avail the Metro Rail and get down at Maidan. From Maidan one can hop into a local bus or hire a taxi. 2. From Karunamayee stop shared maruti Omni will be available upto Exide Stop. You need to take 10 min walk from Exide to reach Victoria Memorial   or   you can take local buses from Exide.

Entry Fee and Timings of Victoria Memorial Hall and Gardens Kolkata

Victoria Memorial Gardens and Hall remains in same corridor. But Gardens and Hall have different timings and Fees.

Victoria Memorial Hall

  

Entry fee for Indians - the entry fee to the museum is Rs. 10/- (per head)

Entry fee for all foreigners - the entry fee to the museum is Rs. 150/-(per head)

Free for school children up to 12 years age in uniform and Army personnel in uniform.

Victoria Memorial Hall (Museum) remains open to visitors On all working days except Mondays from 10.00 hrs to 17.00 hrs IST. Ticket counter closes half an hour before the closure of galleries.

Please Note: The museum remains closed to visitors on every Monday and the office remains closed on Sundays and on 2nd Saturdays of every month and also on other Indian Government Holidays.

Victoria Memorial Hall (Museum) shall remain closed to public on All Mondays, Republic Day (26th January), Holi, Independence Day (15th August), Id-ul-Fitr, Gandhiji's Birthday, Dusserah, Christmas day (25th December).

Victoria Memorial Garden

Victoria Memorial Garden remains open to visitors from 5.30 a.m. to 7 p.m all throughout the year even on holidays. But sale of entry tickets closes at 6.45 p.m. Entry to the garden may be restricted to visitors by order of the authority.

The entry fees for garden: These rates are only for gardens. You will not be permitted to visit Hall with this ticket.

Daily ticket : Rs. 4/- per head, per entry

Monthly ticket : Rs.100/- per head.

Yearly ticket : Rs. 1000/-

Special Events:

The Victoria Memorial Hall holds Light & Sound (Son-et-Lumiere) shows regularly, as a permanent special event. The show entitled: ' Pride & Glory - the Story of Calcutta', was designed as a joint venture with Bengal Chamber of Commerce and is being held in both English and Bengali version.

The Show Timings are:    

October to February:     6.15 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. (Bengali)

                                      7.15 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. (English)

March to June:     6.45 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. (Bengali)

                            7.45 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. (English)

Rates of Ticket: Rs. 10/- and Rs.20/-. Counter opens at 12.30 p.m. (Church Gate). No advance booking. Full ticket for children above three years. No shows on Mondays, National Holidays and Holi and between July to September.

For block booking contact Education Officer or E-mail : victomem@cal2.vsnl.net.in

or

FAX to CURATOR

Tele -Fax: +91-33-2223-5142

Phone: +91-33-2223-1890/1891

   

Postal Address

Victoria Memorial Hall,

1, Queen's Way,

Kolkata - 700071

INDIA

Victoria Memorial Kolkata Gallery

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Victoria Memorial Kolakta Gallery

 

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Victoria Memorial Kolkata Gallery

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Victoria Memorial Kolkata Gallery

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Victoria Memorial Hall

                                                    Victoria Memorial - Kolkata - India  (Click on the pic to view gallery)
                                                                                         
The Victoria Memorial, officially the Victoria Memorial Hall, is a memorial building dedicated to Victoria, to commemorate the peak of the British Empire in India. This is located in Kolkata, India - the capital of West Bengal and a former capital of British India. Today the Victoria Memorial Hall is a museum having an assortment of Victoria memorabilia, British Raj paintings and other displays. As night descends on Calcutta, the Victoria Memorial Hall is illuminated, giving it a fairy tale look. It is an autonomous organization within the Government of India's Ministry of Culture.

The memorial is famous for its exhibits of Indian and Western Paintings, manuscripts, postage stamps, Mughal miniatures, books that dates back to the 1870's, statues and sculptures, arms and armaments, sketches and other objects of historic value in its Museum and Art Gallery. Today it is one of the main attraction for tourists in Kolkatta. Here, on weekends, people picnic, families meet, and transiting pilgrims bring flowers to the statue of "Maharani Victoria". Two regular sound and light shows both in English and Bengali are held in the evening. The memorial is open  from 1000 am to 1700pm on all weekdays except on Mondays and public holidays. The Memorial is an autonomous body governed by a Board of Trustees with the Governor of West Bengal as the Chairperson, and is under the 'administrative control' of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

What to watch in Victoria Memorial?

Design and Construction

The memorial was designed by Sir William Emerson using Indo-Saracenic style, incorporating Mughal elements in the structure. The foundation stone of the memorial was laid down in the year 1906. The monument was intended to serve as a tribute to the success of the British Empire in India. 196080cft of Makrana marble was brought  from Jodhpur, Rajasthan for its construction. It has been calculated that a goods train about 27 km long would be required to bring the entire building materials needed for the memorial.

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). The building covers an area of 103.02m by 69.49m. 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 'H' shaped memorial  consists of numerous hybrid features; it has Italian-style statues over its entrances, Mughal domes in its corners and tall elegant open curved colonnades along its sides.

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. 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

Paintings and Statues

The Royal gallery in Victoria Memorial has portraits of the Queen and Prince Albert. There are numerous paintings, illustrating events from Victoria's life. Another remarkable peace in Victoria Memorial is a painting by the Russian artist Vasseli Verestchagin, portraying the state entry of the Prince of Wales in Jaipur in the year 1876. In the post independence period a new addition was made to the Victoria Memorial. It was the addition of the National leaders' gallery with the portraits and relics of the freedom fighters. There are 3000 exhibits in 25 galleries in a chamber beneath the dome.

Main entrance is from the north. A bronze statue of Queen Victoria sits enthroned in bronze at the entrance marble staircase wearing the regal Order of the Star of India. Above her, a black bronze angel known as Victory, holding a bugle in her hand was placed at the apex of the dome above the Memorial and has always been regarded as a curious addition to the monument. It is fixed to its pedestal with ball bearings and rotates when the wind is strong enough.

The entrance dome is deeply graven with the text of Queen Victoria's imperial proclamation speech. Inside the memorial there is a remarkable collection of artifacts depicting British Imperialism - statues of famous British figures including Robert Clive, General Stringer Lawrence, Lord Bentick, William Makepeace Thackeray, who was born here, Florence Nightingale, Queen Mary, George V and Queen Victoria etc. Many of British India's Governors and Governor Generals are represented here in stone, dressed in Roman togas, like Clive, Warren Hastings, Cornwallis, Wellesley, Dalhousie etc.

Excellent paintings such as, Burne-Jones's portrait of Rudyard Kipling, Johann  Zoffany's portrait of William Hastings and his family, Macaulay, Bishop Heber and William Hickey, Verestchagin's monumental depiction of the Prince of Wales making his grand tour of Jaipur in 1876, the works of the Victorian artists Thomas and William Daniells, paintings of  Robert Clive, marriage of the Prince of Wales with Princess Alexandra are exhibited and a huge painting depicts King Edward VII entering Jaipur in a regal procession in 1876. Also on display are some Indians without discrimination. Among these are - Keshab Chandra sen,  Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath tagore and his grandfather Dwarkanath Tagore.

In the Royal Gallery there are many oil paintings illustrating episodes from Queen Victoria's long, eventful life and reign- her coronation in the Westminster Abbey in June 1838;  her marriage with Prince Albert (1840) in the Chapel Royal at St. James' Palace; the baptism of her son, her son's wedding, her residence of Frogmore, 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 etc. Statues of former British rulers sculpted by Italian craftsmen that used to adorn street corners all the way along Chowringhee and the Maidan, are now scattered around the large garden of the monument.

Gardens

The massive Victoria Memorial stands enclosed within 64 acres (260,000 m2) of blooming gardens. Set amid 64 acres of lawns, fountains, and herbaceous borders this greatest symbol of the British, houses artifacts illustrating British roots in India. Lord Redesdale and Sir David Prain designed the gardens.

Collections

At present the Victoria Memorial has notable collection of weapons, sculptors, paintings, maps, coins, stamps, artifacts, textiles etc. French guns captured at the Battle of Plassey are on exhibit along with the black stone throne of the Nawab whom Clive defeated.

Some of Queen Victoria's possessions, like the pianoforte, at which she received tuition in childhood, her personal writing desk and chair occupied for daily correspondence at Windsor, scrapbooks of her letters in Hindustani, for Queen was tutored in the language by her favorite Indian attendant Abdul Karim,  the last letter she wrote to her people in India etc.

Entry Fee and Timings of Victoria Memorial Hall and Gardens Kolkata

How to Reach Victoria Memorial Kolkata

 

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