Victoria Memorial Hall

Built between 1906-1921 in the memory of Queen Victory, it is one of the largest monuments to a monarch with 64 acres of gardens.  Over the years it has evolved into one of the most popular places in the city and has been converted into a museum. When Queen Victoria died, Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India, suggested that a fitting memorial to the late Queen-Empress should be created in Kolkata as it was the capital of British India. Everyone responded generously to this appeal and the entire cost of the construction of the monument  was entirely derived from their voluntary subscriptions.Over the years it has transformed into an iconic landmark and is also one of the top tourist attractions in Kolkata. There are 25 galleries inside the memorial, including the Calcutta Gallery, Portrait Gallery, Royal Gallery, Sculpture Gallery, and the National Leaders Gallery, to mention a few. The Victoria Memorial Museum is home to over 28,000 artifacts, including arms and armor, sculptures, and antiquarian books, ancient western paintings, archives, Mughal miniatures, sculptures, Indian paintings, postage stamps, manuscripts, company school drawings, lithographs and aquatints, rare books and sketches.The timings are 10:00am to 5:00pmTickets to gardens cost Rs. 20/- per person. Tickets to museum cost Rs. 30/- per person.

Kalighat temple यह मंदिर काली भक्तों के लिए सबसे बड़ा मंदिर है। इस मंदिर में देवी काली के प्रचण्ड रूप की प्रतिमा स्थापित है। इस प्रतिमा में देवी काली भगवान शिव की छाती पर पैर रखी हुई हैं। उनके गले में नरमुंडो की माला है, हाथ में कुल्हाड़ी और कुछ नरमुंड हैं, कमर में भी कुछ नरमुंड बंधे हुए हैं। उनकी जिह्वा (जीभ) निकली हुई है और जीभ में से कुछ रक्त की बूंदे भी टपक रही हैं। प्रतिमा में जिह्वा स्वर्ण से बनी है।कुछ अनुश्रुतियों के अनुसार देवी किसी बात पर क्रोधित हो गयी थीं। उसके बाद उन्होंने नरसंहार करना शुरू कर दिया। उनके मार्ग में जो भी आता वो मारा जाता। उनके क्रोध को शान्त करने के लिए भगवान शिव उनके मार्ग में लेट गए। देवी ने क्रोध में उनकी छाती पर भी पैर रख दिया उसी समय उन्होंने भगवान शिव को पहचान लिया और उन्होंने फिर नरसंहार बंद कर दिया।पौराणिक कथाओं के अनुसार सती के शरीर के अंग प्रत्यंग जहाँ भी गिरे वहाँ शक्तिपीठ बन गये। ब्रह्म रंध्र गिरने से हिंगलाज, शीश गिरने से शाकम्भरी देवी, विंध्यवासिनी, पूर्णगिरि, ज्वालामुखी, महाकाली आदि शक्तिपीठ बन गये। माँ सती के दायें पैर की कुछ अंगुलिया इसी जगह गिरी थीं।

Victoria Memorial is a nostalgic place for Bengalis. Its a large marble building constructed between 1906 and 1921 dedicated to Queen Victoria of England. Now it has been converted to a museum under west bengal government. But definitely its worth to explore this place multiple times. This place is also known as lover's park 😊.  We spent a quality time there in evening. Different colors of lights made the palace looks like Arabian palaces.

Victoria Memorial, named after Queen Victoria, is an elegant white marble structure surrounded by lush green gardens which together cover 64 acres of land. There are small beautiful structures spread throughout the garden and the best time to roam around here is in the evening when the memorial is lit up with numerous lights.

Went to the world famous Victoria Palace (stood in long line to get inside, but it was worth it) in the evening, it houses some of the oldest hand made paintings from the British Era. A few of the paintings were as large as the wall! Most parts of the palace depicted scenes, artefacts, audio-visuals and stories from the life of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. That was quite an experience.