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| Hazrat Mahal memorial, Chahatri. double-dolphin.blogspot. |
Lord Curzon who had a long contact with the British royal family was instrumental in constructing an impressive and well embellished monument worth her name and regal status called Victoria Memorial in Calcutta made of high quality marble Even to day, it is the most celebrated and inspiring tourist spot and landmark in Kolkata. The memorial came up public subscriptions and donations from the Indian Maharajahs and Nawabs. Then memorials for Queen Victoria were built in many places in India . The one at Lucknow is of particular interest to the historians.
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| Hazrat Mahal memorial http://unboundoutbound.com |
Hamo Thornycroft's seated statue of Queen Victoria, in the ornate Chhatri within a fine canopy was removed to the Lucknow State Museum after India's independence that marked the end of a pretty
long spell of humiliating and disgusting servitude under the repressive and unfriendly British rule, particularly during the conservative party rule in London. Indians will never forget the lousy leadership of that India-baiter Winston Churchill who was a mute spectator when millions of people died in the Bengal famine of the 1940s. The base of the pedestal that once carried the statue of seated Victoria is now a memorial to the Begum of Awadh and has a plaque set on it, and the park (earlier called Victoria park) has been renamed Hazrat Mahal Begum Park.
There was a proposal to have a statue of Begum Hazrat Mahal set on the pedestal, however, this plan was given up midway as many conservative Muslims were against erecting a statue of a Muslim woman.
The city of Allahabad, also had a statue of Queen Victoria and both the monuments have canopies within which were placed statues of the Queen.
To erect Victoria memorials in Awadh (now part of Uttar Pradesh), the British officials at different levels formed committees to collect funds. Part of the funds collected went to Calcutta for the memorial fund set up by lord Curzon. Rest of the subscription was retained to have two memorials in memory of Queen Victoria built in the kingdom of Awadh. - at Lucknow and Allahabad.
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| GyaniPandit |
2 April 1905. The total cost of the project was
about Rs.150,000.00. Though Jacob was fond of architecture of Neo-classical type, a blend of Gothic Revival and Indo-Islamic style, the one here exhibits more of Indian style, but eclectically it is different, a sort of broad-ranging; positively not confined to one design. It is confirmed by the way the whole structure is placed on a raised plinth and the presence of four chhatris on the four corners of that plinth. There are four more chhatris atop the monument, around the dome, resembling a mosque’s minarets. The dome itself is purely Islamic, topped by an inverted lotus bud finial. The work was done by Messrs. Adam & Co. of Agra, under the supervision of Colonial engineers from the PWD.
In 1957, on the occasion of the centenary of the Sepoy
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| Queen Victoria. The Sun |
http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/jacob/1.html
Deepanjan. "Victoria Park."The Concrete Paparazzi. Web. 12 April 2016.