Being a tourist in my city Kolkata: Destination Victoria Memorial Hall

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Victoria Memorial Hall Kolkata

‘How often do you travel in your city like a tourist?’

Can’t remember exactly where I read this but that simple question moved me very much. How it feels being a tourist in my city – I have never thought that! Thanks to an old friend who has never been to Kolkata before, I became a tourist in my city for the first time. 🙂 He called up a couple of days ago to say that he will give a brief visit to Kolkata on Friday, 30th January and asked me to be his guide for the city tour.

There are so many things to see in Kolkata. Although born and brought up in Kolkata I haven’t yet seen all of them. So, I readily accepted the proposal. Fortunately, it was a cool morning yesterday with a partly cloudy sky, ideal for soft snaps. So, what could be better than to start with Victoria Memorial Hall, the most beautiful monument in Kolkata?

Wide-open greenery all around, cool breeze blowing my hair and the unmatched architecture beauty to behold it felt awesome inside the Victoria Memorial ground!

Victoria Memorial Hall, kolkata, heritage building, architecture
Kolkata’s very own Victoria Memorial Hall

Victoria Memorial Hall Museum  

The monument was built in the memory of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Its unique architecture is a wonderful blend of European and Mughal style which is a treat to the eye. The museum inside the building houses an extensive collection of photographs and oil paintings depicting the history of Kolkata in time of British rule including a pictorial chronology of the monument itself. Every evening Light & Sound (Son-et-Lumiere) shows are held in the Victoria Memorial Hall ground.

The museum remains open every day except Mondays from 10 am to 5 pm. Entry fee for Indians is Rs 10 per head and for foreigners it is Rs 150. However, if you are not interested in history and museum you can just buy a garden ticket and sit in the garden as long as you want till 7 pm. Click here for more details.

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15781904754_4dbe29e7e3_hHow to Reach There

The best way to visit Victoria Memorial Hall is to take metro rail to Rabindra Sadan station. From the metro station walk (2-3 min) towards Cathedral Road, named after St. Paul’s Cathedral located midway of the street. You’ll walk past Kolkata’s cultural hub, Nandan complex – Nandan, Sishir Mancha, Rabindra Sadan and take right turn to Cathedral Road. Then walk for another 10 minutes to Queens Way to reach the main entrance of Victoria Memorial ground.

victorial memorial hall, kolkata, victorian architecture

victoria memorial hall, architecture, marble, memorial, kolkata, heritage

P.S: If you want to have the royal feel of British colonial era take a ride on horse drawn carriages lined up right in front of Victoria Memorial gate. However, a royal ride comes with a ‘royal’ price. Last time I heard it was INR 150 for 15 minutes. 🙂

horse drawn carriage, victoria memorial hall, kolkata
enjoy a horse drawn carriage ride at the heart of Kolkata

44 thoughts on “Being a tourist in my city Kolkata: Destination Victoria Memorial Hall”

  2. Pingback: Being a tourist in my city Kolkata: St. Paul’s Cathedral | Footloose Forever

  3. From the time I started doing Walking Tours, I have been a huge fan of Kolkata and reading about Kolkata has been a great delight. The pictures you have shared look so similar to Mysore. This one reminds me of Lalit Mahal palace in Mysore which has almost the same setting, the white building, the mounds on the top and the palatial structure. So many resemblances of the Indo Saracenic architecture 🙂

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    1. Yes… it’s one of the finest examples of Indo Saracenic architecture in India. Thank you Vinay for sharing your thoughts. For me, a walking tour in Kolkata would be more delight if the roads and transport improves a bit 🙂

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  4. I like old architecture, it’s good that we can preserve buildings of earlier periods, because they tell a story. I also do like history. I did enjoy your post and the photos, looks like a very interesting place!

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    1. That monument is almost 100 year old still so beautiful. In fact India is so full of history and old edifices… Glad that you enjoyed the post and thanks for the follow. 🙂

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      1. I assume this building would not look that good anymore if the locals wouldn’t preserve it. It seems your country takes care about momuments too and that is cool! For us Germans, monuments are often important too and we see the cultural importance too which is why we take care too about buildings. We all must take care of world heritage 🙂 The monument you have shown, I would enjoy to wander around and through it 🙂

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  9. Kolkata is one of the most exciting places – sightseeing, monuments, food, pujo… 🙂 … I am lucky to have some relatives there and so I can visit Kolkata regularly.

    About Victoria Memorial (I had visited it some 5 years ago, in last visit I went to Alipore zoo so just past in front of it)…. what I like most is, in India I have seen very few painting done by artists 100-150 years ago, which give us the first hand picture of India in those days. In victoria memorial, there are abundant such pics. Also, I do not know if the statues of those viceroys/governors are the real replica of those people or work of artist’s imagination – but in any case it gives a good idea (in 3D) how these people were

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    1. Very glad to know that you have so much fondness about the city. Kolkata has a different charm during the pujas but the city is changing. And I too love street food but can’t afford to eat much as doctors strictly forbade me spicy street foods because of gastritis. Yet you know it’s so difficult to resist 🙂

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