The Belvedere Building was built in 1760 by Jafar Ali Khan after he had given the throne to Quasim Khan in a land of about 30 Acres in Alipore, Kolkata.
From 1854 to 1911, the Belvedere housed several lieutenant governors, starting with Halliday, till the British India capital moved to Delhi.
The National Library of India, Kolkata, has been housed in the building since 1948.
The 160-year-old building is a marvel of architecture and has never been repaired on a large scale. ASI was given the repairing work when the National Library moved to Bhasha Bhavan, a new library building on the same campus. After a few years, the Ministry of Culture entrusted the retrofitting work to CPWD.
