Constructed at Karnal, now in the state of Haryana, North India, the 114 year old Victoria Memorial Hall is a unique building that features a fine combination of three architectural styles - Indian, Islamic and European. It was built to perpetuate the memory of the English Queen. There are four porticoes on all the four sides of the building and outside of the pillared Verandah. This single story structure is designed in a such way it hoodwinks you by giving double story look from outside. Surrounded by a pillared Verandah with Islamic-type of arches, it is a state declared monument under the Archaeological Department.
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| Victoria Memorial Hall, Karnal, Haryana 1906 wikipedia commons.org. |
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Built in 1906 in memory of Queen Victoria, the name was changed to Gandhi Memorial Hall as the first condolence meeting was held there after Gandhiji's assassination in 1948. As the up-keep was not good, the High Courts of Punjab and Haryana, way back in 2013, asked the state government to take up the restoration work of the building under the ASI as the building was slowly crumbling due to neglect; the important artifacts in the old building had been removed and sent to the museums. One could see large growth of bushes, creepers and wild grass around the building. The ASI before 2015 built a compound wall and a gate for entry.
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Victoria Memorial Hall, Karnal, Haryana, facebook.in
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Prior to 2015, the office of the District Public Relations had been functioning there and later shifted to some other building. Since then, the building had been in a state of rundown due to poor maintenance. I do not know the present status, but heritage lovers wanted this rare building with three different design styles preserved for posterity.
The officials of the Archaeological Department and the Housing Board engineers, upon their visit this site in 2015, took a decision to carry out the restoration work soon. While there was a proposal to have interlocking tiles installed on the premises of the building, no attempt would be made to compromise on the heritage value of this structure. This historic colonial building is near the city’s Committee Chowk, Karnal.
