Kolkata's Victoria Memorial Hall on Google Art Project soon

Want to experience the grandiosity of the Victoria Memorial Hall from the confines of your home or office? Thanks to Google Art Project, millions across the globe will be able to virtually discover and explore the artworks housed in the iconic monument from January next year.

The project, a collaboration between Google and some of the world's finest and acclaimed art institutions, includes collections of the White House in Washington DC, Musee d'Orsay in Paris and the National Gallery in London among others.

Now, the sprawling 92-year-old Victoria Memorial Hall - a tribute to Queen Victoria conceived by Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of India - will become the third Indian museum or gallery to be showcased on the Google initiative beside 46 other museums from 40 countries.

The others from India are the National Museum and the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi.

"We have signed an agreement with Google and a team will soon visit us to shoot the video of the Hall. We will upload 120 artworks that are part of the Hall's art collection... we are hoping by January it will be on the platform," the Hall's curator Jayanta Sengupta told IANS.

The cyber platform (christened Google Institute of Culture) enables users not only to view high resolution images from various museums but also allows them to compile their own collection.

Besides, they can learn about the history, the artists and other details of the art-pieces.

Enthusiasts can go for the popular walkthrough feature to tour the galleries and exhibits.

"It will showcase our collection globally and will be an upgraded experience...it will show to the world what we are really about," said Sengupta.