'Where Friendship was the theme'

'Where Friendship was the theme' - by K J S Chatrath

May 05, 2023

Photos of the building put up here is unique in its own way. It was got constructed in 1864-78 by the then Commissioner of Allahabad Mr. Francis Otway Mayne in memory of his friend and junior colleague, Mr. Cuthbert Bensley Thornhill. Both of them belonged to the then Bengal Civil Service.

I visited the holy city of Allahabad (Now Prayagraj) in 2013 and spent 4 days there moving around from one lovely building to another on a pedal driven Cycle Rickshaw. I would be sharing photos of various iconic buildings that I took there in subsequent posts.

The Thornhill Mayne Memorial was established in the year 1864 and is housed in the 133-acre Chandrashekhar Azad Park, previously known as Alfred Park. Funded by the then Commissioner of Allahabad, Francis Otway Mayne, at a cost of approximately Rs 94,222 or £25,000 when completed in 1878, it was opened as a memorial to his friendship with Cuthbert Bensley Thornhill, Magistrate of Banda.

Sir Richard Roskell Bayne (1837–1901) was the architect of this Scottish Baronial structure. He was an employee of the East Indian Railway and built many landmarks such as the East India Railway Office, also known as the Fairlie Place in Kolkata, the Sir Stuart Hogg Market in Kolkata (now called the New Market), the Husainabad Clock tower in Lucknow, and the closely situated Mayo Memorial Hall in Prayagraj. [4] The foundation stone of the Thornhill Mayne Memorial building was laid by the then Lieutenant Governor Sir William Muir. Initially, the memorial served as the house of Legislative Assembly in the British era when Prayagraj, known as Allahabad back then, was the capital of North Western Provinces.

Presently the Rajkeeya (Government) Public Library, also known as the Allahabad Public Library, is housed in the Thornhill Mayne Memorial building.

It has a marked usage of granite, marble, wood and iron. It has a square plan oriented along the NE-SW axis with a central courtyard, arched cloisters around the courtyard and a main hall on the north western edge. An octagonal spire is supported by a porte-cochère (carriage porch) while the western end is protected by a central tower. The nave (the central part) houses the original library and reading room, and is lit by four bays with rose windows. The Memorial also has a cloister which is supported by columns and British cast-iron panels. The neo-Gothic pillar tops, called capitals, are decorated with relief sculptures depicting diverse native livelihoods along with birds and animals.

Some prized possessions of the library are an original copy of Firdausi’s Shahnamah and certain works of Prince Dara Shikoh, the son of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.

Some of the emblems and insignia visible on the building are initials of Francis Otway Mayne (FOM) and Cuthbert Bensley Thornhill (CBT). The most prominent insignia is Virtuti Fortuna Comes, Latin for ‘fortune is the companion of virtue’.