Victoria Memorial

Vital Information for Visitors

Address:

Victoria Memorial Hall, 1, Queens Way, Maidan, Kolkata, West Bengal

Open & Close:

Garden : Open all days
Museum : Open all days except Monday & national holidays
Garden:5:30 AM-6:30 PM
Museum:10:00 AM-5:00 PM

Entry Fees:

Garden : ₹ 10
Museum : ₹ 20 for Indians
Museum : ₹ 200 for foreigners

Duration:

Approx 2 hr

Famous For :

25 Galleries, ancient coins, seals, maps, sculptures etc.

"A poem in marble", "The finest building in Bengal", "Another charming Taj" are some of the tributes paid to the Victoria Memorial dominating the southern end of the Maidan. This large marble building, combining British and Mughal architecture, is one of the most impressive vestiges of the British presence in Kolkata. This was built with marble quarried at Makrana in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, also the source of marble for the Taj. Its construction began in 1906 at the instigation of the Vice-King, Lord Curzon, in memory of Queen Victoria. It was not inaugurated until December 21, 1921.

The statue of a bronze angel is placed at the top of the dome with a height of 61 meters. The lobby is 50 meters high. It is overlooked by a balcony where you can see murals depicting the life of Victoria. The other rooms are home to a number of items belonging to the Queen, including her pink wooden piano, desk, letters and manuscripts. The twenty-five galleries of the mansion exhibit 3,500 items including a statue of Queen Victoria by Sir Thomas Brook, and a rosewood piano played by the queen as a young girl. Designed by Sir William Emerson, the architecture bears the influence of the Italian Renaissance with traces of Saracenic style. Next to this memorial stands the Birla Planetarium.