Tomb of Lord Cornwallis

A Governor General's Tomb in Ghazipur

One of my first memories of the monument is a conversation between two colleagues. Wahan kya hai asked one. Ek angrez tha - woh sala wahan ghoom raha tha tab mar gaya - uska makbara hai : came the response. A fan of direct talk I ended up finding more about the moment and ultimately visiting. 

Amidst the haze and chill of the winter morning the grandeur of the tomb reminded me of the parliament building. Much smaller in scale but a structure that visually stuns, appeals.

Nico Slate writes thus in Lord Cornwallis is Dead: The Struggle for democracy in United States and India;

Outside the city of Ghazipur, an hour east of Varanasi, the tomb of Lord Charles Cornwallis overlooks the Ganges. A marble dome, seventy-five feet high and sixty feet in diameter, the Cornwallis mausoleum embodies the ambitions of the British Raj. While the Ganges swells and shrinks, the stone crypt holds firm. Cornwallis would be proud. As governor-general of British India from 1786 to 1793, Cornwallis oversaw the growth of one of history’s greatest empires.

He adds:

Five years before he arrived in India, Cornwallis lost one off the most momentous battles of the modern era. On October 19, 1781, a joint force of French and American troops, led by the rebel George Washington, defeated Cornwallis and his soldiers in the bustling part of Yorktown, Virginia.

The campus located not far from a college, on the road, is decently maintained by the ASI. We had reached before time (10.00 am) and had to wait. My first eager glimpse through the gate was that of a man sweeping!

A nursery (also home to a grand Banyan) stands across the road. Having nurseries as neighbours of public spaces (especially such monuments) is a welcome idea!

Why do we have such sad looking signage for such magnificent structures?