Community Events

The newly restored tomb

The new High Commissioner of India, Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, cut a ribbon to mark the completion of work on The Rajah Rammohun Roy’s grade II listed tomb.

The pan-religious ceremony formed part of the annual commemoration of the Rajah’s death, which is held at Arnos Vale Cemetery in September every year.

The tomb is the first major structure to be restored at Arnos Vale since the restoration of the West Lodge some years ago and is the first major element of the £4.8 million  restoration programme currently underway at Arnos Vale.

Arnos Vale trustee and historian Carla Contractor said: "The Rajah is rightly called the Founder of Modern India and he is still regarded as a tremendously important figure in India today."

"His tomb is one of the true architectural glories of Arnos Vale, so it is marvellous now to see it the way its architect intended and to know that that this great monument has been safeguarded for future generations.”

The Rajah is remembered in India for founding the Brahmo-Samaj, the Hindu reform movement, and for his work in fighting for women’s rights, including an end to sati, the practice of widow-burning.

His elaborate tomb was designed by William Prinsep, a merchant from Clifton, in the authentic style of a Bengali chattri, or funeral monument.

Statue of Rammohun Roy on College Green

Well over 100 people attended the ceremony at Arnos Vale at noon on Sunday, 28 September, which marked the 175th anniversary of the death of the Rajah.

He came to Britain as ambassador for his Mughal emperor and visited Bristol at the invitation of Lant Carpenter, the Unitarian minister of Lewin’s Mead Chapel, and father of Mary Carpenter, the Founder of the Kingswood Reformatory and the Red Lodge for Girls in Bristol. The Rajah died suddenly at Stapleton in 1833.

The restoration of the tomb was made possible by a donation last year of more than £50,000 from Kolkata businessman Aditya Poddar.