The entrance
gate to this beautiful palace is set amidst the almost filthy
surroundings of Muktaram Babu Street, off Chittaranjan Avenue. The spacious
grounds, artistically laid out, are glittering with bronze and marble statues
of, among others, Venus, Sophocles, Psyche and Demosthenes. The sudden
transition from the unbeautiful exterior to the pleasant lawns within is
enchanting and awakens memories of the ancient glory of Greece and Macedonia.
In the
mid-nineteenth century the philanthropist Raja Rajendralal Mallick of the
Subarnabanik community pledged his wealth to the people of Kolkata. Rajendralal
Mallik’s (1819-87) dedication to arts and his urge to feed the hungry has
left a lasting legacy. The Trust he set up is still ably managed by his
descendants. His art gallery is open to the public free of charge , and 500
poor people are fed every day. Rajendralal was the adopted son
of Nilmoni Mallick of Pathuriaghata. The family of
Mallick dates back to the earliest days of Kolkata when it was one of the few
that chose to settle at Gobindapur, one of the three villages on the east bank
of the river Hooghly, in preference to the then prosperous Portuguese
settlement on Hooghly on the west. They continued to reside at Gobindapur until
it was selected as the site for the present Fort William that was built in
1757. Joyram Mallick thereafter, took up his residence at
Pathuriaghata. The Mallicks were an established family of bullion
merchants whose wealth lay in the maritime trade in silver, gold and sugar.
Nilmoni died when Rajendralal was only three. His widowed mother moved with him
from Pathuriaghata to Chorbagan, where his philanthropic father had his
Thakurbari or a place of worship and a permanent kitchen for feeding the poor.
A student of
Hindoo College. Rajendralal had chief interests in natural history and arts,
both Western and Oriental. He was also musically inclined. He continued and
enlarged the paternal tradition of philanthropy. His relief efforts during
the famine of 1865-66 earned him the title Rai Bahadur, and in 1878, Lord
Lytton endowed him with the title of Raja, along with the ceremonial gift of a
large diamond ring.
Rajendralal Mallick’s
distinction lay in building a lasting edifice to embody all his
interests and ideals. His palace dedicated to arts at Chorbagan was
commenced when he was sixteen. It was completed in about five years, and was
named the Marble Palace by the Viceroy Lord Minto when he
visited it early last century. Rajendralal is said to have personally directed
the 500 artesans, both Indian and foreign, who executed the plan. The
architecture is a mixture of exuberant Roccoco and the three European classical
styles, imposed on the oriental quadrangle pattern of introverted space. This became
the model for many contemporary mansions. But Rajendralal’s mansion is the
only well-maintained edifice of its kind, one of the last true palaces
left in the erstwhile CITY OF PALACES.
In the centre
of the garden near a fountain of murmuring, cascading water, stands a statue of
the famous founder of the palace Raja Rajendralal Mallick. Part of
the extensive Baroque garden was devoted to the menagerie of rare birds and
animals, Kolkata’s first zoo. The Raja also sent animals and
birds to various zoos in Europe: the Zoological Society of London awarded him a
medal for introducing the Himalayan Pheasant to England. The tradition carries
on. A black buck, spotted deer, monkeys and birds still occupy the
cages. The menagerie spills over into the palace itself. From a
corner of the wide verandah around the open courtyard, an aviary of cuckatoos,
hyacinthine macaws, mynahs and an albino crow send sounds of life to the art
galleries within, while a wayward pelican waddles in form the tank outside.
The entrance of
the palace through a long colonnaded carriage-porch leads into the billiard
room. This is the visitor’s introduction to a kaleidoscope of marbles on
floors, walls and tabletops throughout the museum. Rajendra Mallick himself
designed the floor of the reception hall, a combination of multi-colored
marbles patterned to render carpeting redundant. The etched Venetian glass
panes on the doors afford a view of the green lawn where sarus, cranes and
white peacocks strut between marble lions and statues. On either side, the
gilt-framed Belgian mirrors from floor to ceiling created a million parallaxes.
The floor has been reset with green and white marble tiles, laid by the present
generation of Mallicks.
The Rubens Room
is the only one to present the modern concept of uncluttered exhibition.
Connoisseurs, scholars and students come to see the enormous “Marriage of St.
Catherine”, “Martyrdom of the St. Sebastian”, “Minerva giving the Love cup to
Appollo” and “The return of Ulysses” by Rubens and Murillo
respectively. The art of Sir Joshua Reynolds is also present in
“Child Hercules and the Serpents” and “Venus and Cupid”.
This gallery
has been renovated a few years back. The mosaic inlay on the walls has been
refurbished, original frames repaired and re-touched, and the paintings cleaned
and preserved according to family formulae.
The norms of
modern museums do not apply to the Marble Palace. Air-conditioning would not
only be out of question but, the family feels unnecessary. Ventilation and
lighting in each room have been planned according to the exhibits housed there.
There is a careless profusion in the display, at times almost heedless and
undiscriminating bounty.
Everything
in this amazing collection, hidden down a narrow street in old Kolkata, calls
for awe and not flippant criticism.
Sources : a) Guide to calcutta - by Firminger.
b) Recolletions of Calcutta - by M. Massey
c) Handbook to Calcutta - Edired by Eardley Latimer (Calcutta Historical Society)
d) The Living Calcutta - by Edited by Sukanta Chowdhury.
Research -Santanu Roy.
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