The Marble Palace in Kolkata is a Nineteenth-century neoclassical mansion constructed by means of Raja Rajendra Mullick, that includes a mix of architectural kinds and a wealthy number of artwork and artefacts. It’s famend for the use of 126 sorts of marble.
Ratings of civilisations got here and left the earth, however no longer with out leaving indelible imprints upon it within the type of creative structures.
Seven of those made it to a listing: ‘Seven Wonders of the Historic International’ — the protagonists being the Colossus of Rhodes, the Nice Pyramid of Giza, the Placing Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Whilst best one among them remains to be status, earthquakes and fires destroyed the opposite six. The Mausoleum of Halicarnauss, as an example, was once struck down by means of successive earthquakes between the eleventh and fifteenth century CE.
In its heyday, the monument was once the tomb of Mausolus, ruler of Caria (a area in present-day Turkey). However neither the devastating stays of stone it left in the back of nor the clouds of mud may erase the reminiscence of the towering marble good looks that folks would as soon as gape at in natural surprise. The mammoth facade combined the tips of Greek architects Pythius and Satyros, with sculptures flanking its facets.
It was once good looks personified.
A palace on Muktaram Babu Boulevard in North Kolkata (up to now Calcutta, the seat of the British Raj), is claimed to encourage the similar response. Whilst folks have identified a resemblance between the Marble Palace, Kolkata, and the monument in Turkey, there isn’t any sound evidence whether or not the latter impressed the previous.
An architectural logo
A mansion that fuses cultures. This moniker aptly describes the Marble Palace; a white beacon of serenity set towards a bustling stretch of land dotted with retail outlets and bazaars. With its neoclassical structure emerging to the skies and its manor-like gates opening up a portal into another size — a royal one if you’ll — the palace is among the best-preserved non-public areas in India.
The identify borrows from the 126 sorts of marble that went into its making. And if that doesn’t tick the field for sheer ingenuity, the host of collections inside the museum will. The historical past of the mansion is colored and strains again to Raja Rajendra Mullick, a Bengali service provider.
Followed by means of Nilmani Mullick who was once a descendant of businessman Ramakrishna Mullick, Rajendra didn’t need for anything else. In 1878, Lord Lytton, viceroy and governor-general, conferred him with the name ‘Raja Bahadur’. On the mushy age of 16, Rajendra started development the Marble Palace, finishing it by means of 1840. As of late, the grand road is a testomony to his love for cultures, inventive prowess, and penchant for collectables.
Grandness has its moments
Few are lucky to be aware of the royal facades and interiors on the Marble Palace. However if you’re accepted a personal guided excursion in the course of the position — conceivable best by means of making use of in the course of the West Bengal Tourism Knowledge Bureau — get ready to be shocked. The magic lies within the chiselled main points. Privateness is prized at this Nineteenth-century house, and is the reason the stringent regulations about having guests.
However a fortunate few who’ve been inside of its chambers, discuss extremely of the palace’s testomony to maintaining tradition. In case you glance lengthy sufficient on the block of white, you’ll be capable to inform the mix of various architectural kinds that experience long gone into its design.
The neoclassical taste Corinthian columns combined with fretwork verandahs and sloping roofs impressed by means of Chinese language structure, give technique to Victorian furnishings inside of the house. The roof in the meantime is crowned with an ornately carved French pediment. The palatial quarters boast 5 halls: Reception Corridor, Portray Room, Sculpture Room, Billiards Room and Thakur Dalan (position of worship).
Each and every of those rooms bears the nostalgia of the artwork that Rajendra gathered alongside his travels. He liked dabbling in it; the Bohemian goblets, French Ormulo clocks, swords from Toledo, and Venetian mirrors are evidence.
When souvenirs aren’t delighting your senses, large oil artwork will. Those come with Rubens’ ‘The Marriage of St Catherine’, ‘The Toddler Hercules Strangling the Serpent’ by means of Joshua Reynolds, artwork by means of Raja Ravi Varma, Jan Van Goyen, and Giovanni Battista, and sculptures of Venus, Apollo, Homer, and different legendary and actual figures.
It’s mentioned that the palace homes 76 uncommon works of art introduced from Italy and Belgium in 1830, and a two-cornered biocome this is mentioned to had been worn by means of Napoleon Bonaparte all over his army campaigns. The originality remains to be debated.
Your approach will probably be illuminated by means of the sunshine bouncing off the Nineteenth-century disco balls. The palace is a stability between grandeur and a heat position referred to as ‘house’. However whilst it’s the circle of relatives’s contact for artefacts that attracts guests to where, it was once as soon as the zoo that made headlines.
The Marble Palace is a palatial nineteenth-century mansion in North Kolkata at 46, Muktaram Babu Boulevard. It is among the best-preserved mansions of nineteenth-century Calcutta. The mansion is known for its marble partitions, flooring, and sculptures, from which it derives its identify.… percent.twitter.com/M7cvGln1tn— Rupak Chattopadhyay (@RupakChatto) October 13, 2023
Magpies and golden pheasants
In an interview with Telegraph India, Hirendra Mullick — resident and curator of Marble Palace — credited Mullick’s background in botany and ornithology for growing India’s first privately-owned zoo. Known as Nilmani Niketan after Rajendra Mullick’s father, the zoo was once an try to maintain and show herbivores, owing to the circle of relatives’s vegetarian nutrition.
Uncommon birds like albino peacocks, hyacinthine macaw, hen of Alexandria, trucan, hawk-headed parakeets, silver and golden pheasants, magpies, hornbills, and mute swans; long-tailed monkeys, noticed deer, barking deer, red-butt baboon, and porcupines thrived right here.
As Hirendra added, “The whole lot is preserved to offer protection to the glamour and glory of the custom, historical past and atmosphere of the previous. The whole lot is religiously adopted as advised by means of the founder.”
In case you discovered our tales insightful, informative, and even simply stress-free, we invite you to imagine creating a voluntary cost to enhance the paintings we do at The Higher India. Your contribution is helping us proceed generating high quality content material that educates, evokes, and drives sure trade.
Make a selection one of the vital cost choices underneath to your contribution-
By way of paying for the tales you price, you without delay give a contribution to maintaining our efforts fascinated by creating a distinction on this planet. In combination, let’s make sure that impactful tales proceed to be informed and shared, enriching lives and communities alike.
Thanks to your enhance. Listed here are some regularly requested questions chances are you’ll to find useful to understand why you might be contributing?
As the daylight bathes the sweeping lawns in a yellow glow, the flicker bounces off the marble surprise — a logo of Kolkata’s still-standing royalty.
Edited by means of Pranita Bhat.
Resources
The previous preserved in a Marble Palace by means of Saurajit Mazumdar, Printed on 31 October 2018.
Marble Palace, Kolkata: the tale in the back of Kolkata’s mansion of curiosities by means of Conde Nast Traveller, Printed on 8 February 2022.
The Marble Palace in Kolkata speaks of the grandeur of the Mullicks by means of Saheli Mitra, Printed on 3 Would possibly 2024.
The Marble Palace by means of Rituparna Friend, Printed on 22 Would possibly.