Currency Building

About this monument

This handsome three-storeyed building was designed in Italian style with Venetian windows, cast iron grates of florid design, portcullis and railings. The floor was covered with marble and chunar sandstone, wall was made of bricks and the roof was arched on iron joist. The central hall used to get sun light through skylights overtopping the large domes (recently pulled down). The second floor is similarly designed. The rooms are spacious and paved with Italian marble. Founded in 1833, the building at first housed the Agra Bank Ltd. It was named Currency Building when the Government occupied a large part of it for housing the issue and exchange of Government paper currency. It later housed the Reserve Bank of India which abandoned it in 1937. Abandoned, the building was steadily decaying. Finally, a decision was taken to demolish the building. Accordingly, the process of pulling it down was started by the P.W.D. considering its historical and architectural importance, the Archaeological Survey of India stopped this demolition work and, declared the building as a protected monument in 2002, began its restoration work.

Site plan

Site plan from the ASI Inventory of Monuments and Sites of National Importance, Vol. VII Part IV, Kolkata Circle (2015).

Photographs