Relics of the Raj

Anindita Mazumder

Calcutta was once dotted with statues of British queens and kings, viceroys and generals, a legacy of the British Raj. But the statues were uprooted, somewhat ingloriously, in late 60s and stowed away. In this article we recount their glorious days before they were left to languish in oblivion.

Unlike the city’s streets which were renamed over the years, most of the statues of our imperial rulers were removed at one go, in 1969 when the United Front came to power for the first time. These beautiful examples of British sculpture and art were banished to Latbagan in Barrackpore while the more fortunate ones found their way in Victoria Memorial, Calcutta High Court, Raj Bhavan and St Paul’s Cathedral.  Some of the existing pedestals were used to install statues of freedom fighters, litterateurs or great personalities of our country but unfortunately, with little artistic or aesthetic value.

Remarkably, the British government did not allot any sum for the statues but the funds were raised mostly through donations and subscriptions from native kings, zamindars, the rich or from British employees and soldiers. These were sculpted by renowned British sculptors including John Henry Foley who created the statues of James Outram, Lord Hardinge and Lord Canning or Francis Legatt Chantrey credited for the statues of Sir Edward Hyde East and Bishop Reginald Heber. The commissioned statues arrived in ships and in some case the pedestals came from abroad. The statues were installed around Maidan, Eden Gardens and the Legislative Assembly.

We will begin our tale with the statue of British Monarch, George V who visited the city as heir apparent and laid down the foundation of the most famous of Calcutta’s landmarks, Victoria Memorial. After his death in 1936, a full bust bronze statue was commissioned and installed on a 27-feet-high pedestal opposite Outram Ghat at the junction of Strand Road and Kingsway. The imposing statue depicts the king wearing the regal robes in which he had attended Delhi Durbar during his visit to India. There was also a fountain at the base of the statue. In 1969, it was removed to Barrackpore and a statue of litterateur, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay has taken its place.

There was also a full bust statue of Lord Curzon, who earned notoriety for his plan to partition Bengal, at the Maidan opposite to the Victoria Memorial. Right after Curzon left India, nearly one lakh rupees was raised by collecting subscriptions for the statue which was installed in 1913. Curzon is depicted in his Viceroy’s robes with his hands clutching on to the two ends of the robe, his face reflecting the “cold command”. This bronze statue too was removed to Flagstaff House at Barrackpore in 1969 and its place taken by that of Aurobindo Ghosh.

The statue of Warren Hastings, who had consolidated on Lord Clive’s conquests, was erected after his death by collecting subscriptions, mostly from East India Company’s British employees and soldiers. In 1830 the statue was installed in the Town Hall but then shifted to Victoria Memorial where it is now kept. Brilliantly sculpted, the statue shows Hastings wearing a loose robe with two other statues of a pandit and a maulvi near the pedestal.

A beautiful equestrian statue of Lord Canning, the first Viceroy of India after the Company’s rule was abolished was installed in front of Akashvani. Lord Canning is depicted riding a horse, wearing the robes of Governor General but without a headgear. The statue was later removed and reinstalled at Latbagan overlooking the grave of his beloved wife, Lady Canning who had died in India. A statue of CR Das now stands in its place.

Other beautifully sculpted statues include that of Sir Edward Hyde East, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of colonial Calcutta who was instrumental in setting up of the Hindu College, James Outram, Earl of Northbrook, Earl of Ronaldshay, Marquess of Landsdowne, John Lawrence, Lord Cornwallis, Marquis of Hastings, Edwin Samuel Montagu of Montagu-Chelmsford reforms (created by a woman sculptor, Kathleen Hilton), Lord Minto and Lord Mayo.