I had never been into the Indian Monument Gardens before, and it seems that the one time I did venture in was when they were doing some new construction on a stage to the western end and had not done any recent cleaning near the monument itself, yet I still think I got a few usable photographs (if you ignore the weeds on growing near the monument and the stains on the base itself)
The monument itself commemorates the arrival of the East Indians to Guyana as indentured labourers, the first arrival being on May 5th, 1838, the first ship being the SS Whitby (symbolically represented in the monument). The monument was erected in 1988 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of their arrival, a portion of the Merriman’s Mall was appropriated for the Monument Gardens. (the area bordered by Church Street, Camp Street, North Road and Alexander Street.)
I found very little information in my short research, but it appears that a nationwide competition was held for the design, and after choosing the winning entry the design was made real by an “Builder” from India, the Gardens itself was laid out by two architects, one from India and one from Guyana (Albert Rodrigues).
I chose this angle because it shows some of the supporting structure of the Ship itself.
As always, click on the image to see it in the Gallery.
I love it when you do one of these photos of historical significance, I always learn something new 🙂
That makes two of us… I wish I had found out who actually designed it, why the Indian ship “builder” was and who the Indian architect was. Maybe I can ask the National Trust… but then again, I’m still awaiting more details on St. Barnabas Church from them… so that might not be fruitful 🙂