page_title: Lascar War Memorial
section_title: History and architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Lascar War Memorial / History and architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Plaques inside the Lascar War Memorial
context_page_description: The Lascar War Memorial, located on Napier Road in the Hastings area of Kolkata, is a memorial dedicated to the memory of the 896 lascars who died serving on ships of the Royal Navy and British Merchant Service during World War I.
context_section_description: The Lascar War Memorial was erected by shipping and mercantile companies, in the memory of the 896 Lascars of undivided Bengal and Assam who lost their lives during World War I. The monument is situated at the southern end of the Maidan, on Naiper Road, Hastings, near Prinsep Ghat. The 100 feet high monument was unveiled by Lord Lytton, then Governor of Bengal on 6 February 1924. The monument, built in typical Oriental style, is a four-sided column, having designs reflecting the prow of an ancient galley on each side of the column. The upper part of the monument consists of four small minarets and a large gilt dome. A typical Indian look has been given by adding wavy lines beneath the projected balcony, which symbolises waves, along with chhajjas and trellises. The Lascar War Memorial has similarities with the victory tower of Chittor.
  The memorial built in the Indo-Mughal style by William Ingram Keir, who also designed the Kidderpore Bridge, buildings at Bengal Engineering and Science University in Shibpur, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and Islamia College, and also replaced the 1934 earthquake affected spire of St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata with a tower. William Ingram Keir won a prize of Rupees 500 for designing the memorial.
  The inside of the Memorial is approached through a huge doorway on the Northern wall. The interior contains three plaques below the inscription "Lascar Memorial." One plaque commemorates the unveiling of the memorial by Lytton. The second plaques says that the memorial was erected by shipping and mercantile community of India in memory of the 896 seamen of Bengal Assam and upper India (the term Lascar is not used) who lost their lives in service of the British Empire in the great war of 1914 – 18. The third smaller plaques tells about the renovation and lighting of the Lascar War Memorial.
caption: Inside the Lascar War Memorial
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2013:03:10 21:55:18", "Image ExifOffset": "164", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "302", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8526", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "771", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "600"}