Victoria Memorial building, Kolkata, India

                                                               The Victoria Memorial

Victoria Memorial, a majestic white marble edifice positioned in the middle of 64 acres( 25 ha) of sprawling auditoriums , dominating the centre of the Kolkata, India. Architecturally, it seems to reflect contemporary British communal classicism, but there are deliberate Eastern references as well.

The Victoria Memorial was conceived by Lord Curzon as a befitting monument to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom following her death in 1901. He organized backing for the design from within India and commissioned William Emerson, one of the leading British engineers of the day, to design the edifice for the centre of the megacity that was also the capital of British India. The Napoleon of Wales( latterly King George V) laid the foundation on January 4, 1906, and, after lengthy construction work, the structure was formally opened on December 28, 1921.

The marble used in the construction of the structure comes from the same Makrana chases in Rajasthan that were used to make the Taj Mahal, and the corner polls are mildly Mughal in style. The entire composition is culminated by a citation statue of the Angel of Victory that stands 16 bases(4.9 m) high; Although it isn't an factual rainfall vane, it rotates when the wind is strong enough. 

 

The sides of the monument are connected by open columns and in the southern entrance, reached through a triumphal archway in memory of King Edward VII, there's a statue of Lord Curzon himself. The entrance hall contains citation statues and marble busts of royal numbers, and the walls are decorated with showpieces depicting scenes from Queen Victoria's life and the textbooks of her royal proclamations. The innards apartments display important collections of oils, form, artefacts, books and calligraphies relating to kingliness and the conglomerate.

Designed by the social British as a grand European capital – yet now set in one of India's poorest and most vibrant regions – Kolkata has evolved as a megacity of sharp contrasts and contradictions. Kolkata will have to assimilate strong European influences and overcome the limitations of its social heritage to find its own unique identity. In the process it created a emulsion of East and West, expressed in the life and workshop of the 19th- century Bengali elite and its most notable figure, the minstrel and Jeremiah Rabindranath Tagore. 

 

This large and vibrant Indian megacity thrives amidst putatively invincible profitable, social and political problems. Its citizens demonstrate a great vibrant life which is reflected in a partiality for trades and culture and a high position of intellectual vitality and political mindfulness. Kolkata's book expositions, art exhibitions and musicales attract crowds and there's a lively trade in wall debates, leading to Kolkata being called the" City of Bills".