Visit The Renovated Museum In This Iconic Building That Used To Be The Agra Bank

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What Makes It Awesome

Standing tall with its enormous grandeur on BBD Bagh Dalhousie Square is the Old Currency Building. To delve briefly into its history, this majestic building was founded in 1833 and housed the Agra Bank. It then briefly operated as the mint and then became, what is known as the Currency Building since 1868.

You will be welcomed by three huge wrought iron gates and the floor inside covered with marble and chunar sandstone. As you move toward the open area in the ground floor, you would see half-completed (or rather half-demolished) dome structures. The story behind the incident is that the PWD started demolishing the building in 1996 but the Calcutta Municipal Corporation intervened and saved it from being razed, and ASI took up the project of restoring the building. But by then, the three massive central domes were already brought down.

Spread across three floors, this building is now been given a new lease of life as an art gallery-cum-museum that honours the very history of the city it has been a prominent part of. The Delhi Art Gallery, along with the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), have brought a lot of exhibition materials to the Currency Building. Get ready to be swept by the mesmerising works spanning over centuries of Bengal's art, including works of significant modern artists like Rabindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagrore, Jamini Roy, Nandalal Bose, Biren De, Hemen Mazumdar, Ganesh Pyne, Gopal Ghose, Radha Charan Bagchi and Mrinalini Mukherjee, among other stalwarts.

Some of the most striking works of art are by Bengal's six National Art Treasure artists. Abanindranath Tagore's Mother India, that became a secular metaphor for the freedom struggle. Jamini Roy's oil painting of a mother and her son. A simple image, effortlessly drawn, devoid of any unnecessary details, yet one which exudes an unmatchable innocence. Bikash Bhattacharjee's oil on canvas of women at a social gathering with their eyes blacked out, had me gasp out loud! And then we entered a room where the theme of the Bengal famine reverberated. The artists had sketched out the miserable suffering of people who were steeped in disease, starvation and hopelessness. Those were the images that stayed with me long after I had left the historic building.

Pro-Tip

The fact that the museum is housed in this historic building is an added bonus. This place has a lot of interesting nooks and corners to explore. For instance, look out for two metal lined walls that were used for storing currency in the past. They also have a 'gift a tour' concept wherein you can gift your friends or folks a guided tour of this museum absolutely free of cost! All you need to do is email your request at gharebaire@dagworld.com.