Queen Victoria Memorial, Bangalore - a vestige of British Monarchy!

Queen Victoria statue, Bangalore West Sussex County Council

Above image:   Royal Sussex Regiment Collection
West Sussex Record Office.  RSR 2/6th Battalion, Queen Victoria statue, Bangalore. 1916.

  Statue of Queen Victoria, Bangalore,en.wikipedia.org

The Statue of Queen Victoria in Bangalore is one of the five among the original 50 statues of Queen Victoria  that were installed in British India after her demise in 1901 at the ripe age of 81.  Located at Queen's Park, next to Cubbon Park, Bangalore Cantonment, the historical  statue of Queen Victoria was unveiled on 5 February 1906 by the then Prince of Wales, George Frederick Ernest Albert (who later became King George V). The statue was made possible through public subscription, contribution from  people  associated  with Bangalore civil and military services and a chunk of donation came from  Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, the Maharajah of Mysore. The statue has blossoms of jacaranda falling around. At the other end of Queen's Park lies  the Statue of King Edward VII. 

In the wake of Sepoy Mutiny of 1957, disgusted with East India company's oppressive rule that gave England a bad rap and made the native Indians furious, the British government took over the administration of the Indian subcontinent after the dissolution of the EIC. In 1877, the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, had proclaimed Queen Victoria as the Empress of India. 

After the death of queen Victoria in January, 1901, to honor her, committees were set up in salute states to erect the statue of Victoria. In Bangalore, funds were collected  under a Fund Committee and the ruler of Mysore donated BINR.15,000.00. Sir Thomas Brock, well-known sculptor who made the Victoria Memorial outside the Buckingham palace, was chosen to design the queen's statue in Bangalore. The13 feet tall pedestal is made of granite, while that of statue that is 11 feet tall is made of marble. The total cost incurred was BINR. 25,000.00. Inscription on the statue reads:

     VICTORIA
        QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
        AND
        EMPRESS OF INDIA
        1837-1901
        ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION
        1906


 The queen's statue that is very much similar to the ones at  London, Hove, Carlisle, Belfast, Brisbane and Cape Town,  was shipped from England and arrived in Bangalore in July 1905. Brock made a replica of the one he designed in 1890 for his hometown Worcester, England. Besides Bangalore, Brock also sculpted the Queen Victoria statues erected in Agra, Cawnpore and Lucknow. The statue in Bangalore is carrying a scepter and an orb with a cross. The Queen is wearing the  customary Order of the Garter robes, which are decorated with tassels and roses.

The Queen's statue at Bangalore, Madras University, Chennai, King Edward VII Market,Vizagapatam and two statues at the Victoria Memorial, Calcutta are in their original place. Not yet removed and moved over to the museum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Queen_Victoria,_Bangalore