Indian Museum, Chowringhee, Kolkata
The Indian Museum is the largest museum in India. It has a large collection of antiques, armour and ornaments, fossils, skeletons, mummies, and Mughal paintings. It was founded in the year 1814.It is one of oldest museums in the world.The coin room contains the largest collection of Indian coins in the world.
About Indian Museum
Established: 1814
Location Chowringhee: - Kolkata, India
Collection size: 1,02,646 (as on March 31, 2004)
Official Website: indianmuseumkolkata.org
The ninth oldest regular museum of the world, INDIAN MUSEUM, Kolkata, India is the oldest institution of its kind in Asia Pacific region.
The museum comprises sections devoted to geology, zoology, industry, archaeology, art, and ethnology. The coin room contains the largest collection of Indian coins in the world.History of Indian Museum
It was founded by Dr Nathaniel Wallich a Danish botanist at Serampor(originally called Frederischnagore) near Kolkata (Calcutta), India, in 1814.
The Indian museum rose from the Asiatic Society of Bengal which was created by Sir William Jones in 1784.The Museum shifted from Asiatic Society to present site in 1878. The architect was W.L.Granvil who also designed the Calcutta High Court and the General Post Office, Kolkata.It was built between Park Street and Chowringhee.This was the first museum of its kind in Asia.Collections Of Indian Museum
The museum currently (2009) occupies a resplendent mansion, and exhibits among others: an Egyptian mummy, the Buddhist stupa from Bharhut, the Buddha's ashes, the Ashoka pillar, whose three-lion symbol became the official emblem of the Republic of India, fossil skeletons of animals like dinosaurs, an art collection, rare antiques, and a collection of meteorites.The coin room contains the largest collection of Indian coins in the world.
The art section is famous for its textiles, carpets, lacquer-work, glass and pottery. The gallery displays a large collection of Persian and Indian paintings. The geological section is the largest in Asia. There is a large collection of statues and bronzes from various Asian civilizations,It includes life-size models of people and animals of the regions of India.Publication By Indian Museum
Some of the books that are published by the Indian Museum in the fields of Anthropology, Archeology etc. Beside these, the Museum also publishes folders containing collection of paintings that are on display at the museum. These journals are very useful for school children and researchers.
