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The Story
OrganizerConceived by Lord Curzon and built between 1906 and 1921 to a design by William Emerson, the Victoria Memorial combined British and Mughal architectural motifs in gleaming Makrana marble. Intended as a museum from the outset, it assembled paintings, prints and objects documenting the colonial history of Bengal and the city of Calcutta, and became both a repository of that history and one of the most recognisable landmarks of Kolkata.
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Cultural Significance
▾The Victoria Memorial is a defining landmark of Kolkata and an important museum of art and history, preserving a major record of the colonial era and the story of the city while serving as a beloved public space.