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Prinsep Ghat Monument, Kolkata, India

The versatile Indologist James Prinsep (b. 1799, d. 1840) came to India in 1819. He joined as the assay-master of the Calcutta Mint in 1829 and simultaneously took charge of the Asiatic Society of Bengal as Secretary. During his tenure some of the important works were - preparation of scripts of Brahmi and Kharosti, introduction of uniform coinage of the East India Company's rupees, reformation of weights and measures, and the construction of the circular canal linking the Hoogly river and the Sunderbans.

 

After his death the citizens of Calcutta raised public funds to construct this monument on the eastern bank of the Hoogly river. The Monument is an example of Palladian architecture, an European architectural style derived from and inspired by the designs of Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580). The building was restored in 2012 by the current government of West Bengal.

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Uploaded on March 28, 2020
Taken on March 25, 2013