I am excited to be in West Bengal today: Narendra Modi

"I am excited to be in West Bengal today and tomorrow. I am delighted to be spending time at the Ramakrishna Mission and that too when we mark Swami Vivekananda’s Jayanti. There is something special about that place," he tweeted.

"Yet, there will be a void too! The person who taught me the noble principle of ‘Jan Seva Hi Prabhu Seva’, the venerable Swami Atmasthananda Ji will not be there. It is unimaginable to be at the Ramakrishna Mission and not have his august presence!" Modi said.

With an aim to expand the "cultural space" of the "cultural capital" of the country,  Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday dedicate to the public four restored heritage buildings of the city namely Old Currency Building, Belvedere House and Metcalfe House and three refurbished galleries of the iconic Victoria Memorial. 

The Prime Minister will dedicate the restored sites to the people of Kolkata and West Bengal from the Old Currency Building, said Raghavendra Singh, CEO of Development of Museums and Cultural Spaces.

"These conservation projects were undertaken as part of Ministry of Culture's plans to develop iconic buildings in metro cities in India. To begin with, the cities of Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Varanasi are being taken up for this project," he said.

Mr Singh said the conservation work of the iconic buildings had been undertaken with the aim to expand the "cultural space" in the city.

"Kolkata is undoubtedly the cultural capital of India. It is felt that the city lacks cultural spaces and public museums. The conservation of Kolkata's iconic buildings will increase the "cultural space" in the city," he said.

The heritage buildings will be available for people, organisations, educational institutions to hold cultural programmes like book readings, theatre festivals, art exhibitions, etc.

The restoration work was started with the two-storeyed Metcalfe House, located on the junction of Strand road and Hare Street. Built in1844, the design of the building was taken from the portico of the temple of the Winds of Athens.

The dilapidated structure was handed over to the Archeological Survey of India(ASI) for conservation in 2018.

The conservation was completed in 1.5 years, informed Singh.

After taking over the majestic building, Archaeological Survey of India regularly monitored the day-to-day conservation works of the building and finally, major conservation work was carried out in 2018-19.

"The conservation work included roof treatment, repair of walls, doors and windows, removal of accretions, electrical works, repair of existing drainage and wooden staircases," informed Singh.

After conservation work to the entire structure, Archaeological Survey of India's Kolkata Circle organized an exhibition on "Ami Kolkata-its history and culture in the first floor of the Metcalfe Hall". On the ground floor, an exhibition is now set up by National Museum, Delhi on "100 years of Bengali Cinema" in collaboration with Film Heritage Foundation.

Belvedere House, surrounded with 30 acres of ground and beautiful gardens, was declared derelict in 2005, Singh said.

Located in Alipore, opposite the Zoological Gardens, it was the former palace for the Viceroy of India and later the Governor of Bengal. The National Library of India had been housed in the historic building, since 1948.

The building was vacated in 2004 after it was declared unsafe and the entire collection of the National Library of India was shifted to Bhasha Bhawan. In 2018, the building was handed over to the Central Public Works Department(CPWD) for restoration.

One full portion of the building which has some 35 rooms have been restored, he said.