There is no dearth of Queen Victoria statues across the globe as she was the longest female monarch in the annals of British history as the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and the historians call her period the Victorian era. Her reign lasted 63 years and seven months, Since the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in 1877 had proclaimed Queen Victoria as the Empress of India, she had held the highest position till her death in 1901. The new title was proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar of 1 January 1877. The last Durbar was held in Delhi in December 1911, marking the succession King George V and Queen Mary as the Emperor and Empress of India. Dubbed as the greatest show on earth countless freedom fighters and patriots were angry against the colonial rulers for their pump and gala keeping the Indian natives under the British yoke.
During the colonial heyday there were as many as 50 statues of Queen Victoria installed in British India, and the one in Bangalore's Queen's garden is still at its original location one among the five that were not shifted. Soon after her death, many statues of Queen Victoria were commissioned by the rulers of the princely States as a token of their allegiance to the crown.
After India's freedom many of the statues were shifted to the museums across the country and some were vandalized by miscreants. A bronze life size statue of Victoria in Mathura was vandalized in August 2014 and later it was moved over to the Government museum previously known as the Curzon Museum of Archaeology, Mathura. Similarly Queen Vitoria's statue unveiled, in 1904 in Queen's Park, Cawnpore (Kanpur) was later shifted to Lucknow museum. British sculptor Sir Thomas Brock has made the largest number of queen Victoria's statues, including the one in Bangalore and the other in Victoria memorial, Kolkata.
Have you ever heard about queen Victoria's statue in Madras (Chennai)? Yes, there was her statue in this city installed by the British. It was a beautiful statue in sitting posture on a marble base with her crown, hands hanging loose, folds of dress covering her throne. Her look was quite enigmatic. There was a canopy - umbrella-shaped roof with some lacework over her head supported by eight carved metal pillars partially rusted from the bottom to the top.
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| Queen Victoria statue, Wallajah road, Chennai. chennaimadras.blogspot.com/ |
Its location: on the Southern side of the university of Madras near the Senate House on Wallajah road. It is one of the oldest institutions in India that came up in 1857. Located on the premises is the ‘Senate house’, the administrative office building, a classical example of Indo-Saracenic architecture popularized by the famous British architect Robert Chisholm.
There was plaque at the bottom of the statue in Chennai which reads: “This statue is erected in token of his loyalty, respect and admiration of her majesty’s many virtues by her faithful subject - Rajah Goday Naraen Gujputee Rao of Sree Goday family, Vizagapatam.” Sir Rao (KCIE), an aristocrat/politician, served as a member of the Madras Legislative Council from 1868 to 1884''.
The statue was unveiled by Governor of “Fort St. George” (Madras), Robert Bourke, 1st Baron Connemara on June 20, 1887, the Golden Jubilee of the queen’s accession. Sri Narayana Gajapathi Rao bore all the expenses. Because of poor upkeep, surrounding places of the statue were shabby. The statue was hidden behind a thick vegetation and almost covered from the road side The pictures seen below were taken in 2012 (photo credit: sampspeak.in). Originally it was near the entrance gate to the Senate house. quite visible to the public But later when the gate was shifted to the other side, the place around the statue was neglected later thick growth of vegetation blocked the view from the road and other side.
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| Queen Victoria statue on Wallajah road, Chennai,(2012) sampspeak.in |
Above image: Note the cupola over the statue of queen Victoria, Chennai and the metal pillars all around supporting the roof. It is inside the university of madras campus..............
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| Queen Victoria statue, Wallajah roadd, Chennai. sampspeak.in |
Above image: The big state of the English queen is barely visible from the road side due to over growth of plants, trees and bushes and passersby on Wallajah road, Chennai who go past the statues of S. Subramania Iyer, V. Krishnaswami Aiyer and Gopal Krishna Gokhale will miss the spot where Victoria's statue stands............
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| Maharajah Sir Goday Narayana Gajapathi Raohyperleap.com |
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| Robert Bourke, 1st Baron Connemara npg.org.uk |
Above image: Robert Bourke, 1st Baron Connemara, - a British Conservative politician and colonial administrator who served as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1874–80, 1885–86) and and Governor of Madras (1886–90). In 1890 he laid the foundations stone of the Connemara Public Library in Madras. Lord Connemara was twice married, his second wife being Gertrude, former wife of Edward Coleman....................................
https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/Remains-of-the-day/article14406618.ece
https://www.sampspeak.in/2014/08/forlorn-statue-of-victoria-queen.html
http://chennaimadras.blogspot.com/2008/06/faithful-subject.html
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