Indian historical museums are considered to be the treasure house for Indian culture, heritage, artefacts and history. They have a complete collection of all types of historical objects like archaeological, scientific, technological, musical etc. The main purpose of the Indian historical museums is to preserve and display all these priceless articles. The Indian historical museums display the articles to the common people. Quite ideally therefore the Indian historical museums provide the people with a chance to have a glance at India`s past and obtain information about miscellaneous things.
Among the numerous historically important objects available in the Indian historical museums, the articles like pre-historic archaeology, archaeology, jewellery, paintings, decorative arts, manuscripts, Central Asian antiquities, arms and armour, etc. are the most important ones. The Indian historical museums also conduct various research programmes and organise seminars with a view to discover new historical articles and discuss about them.
Historical Museums of Northern India
Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi are some of the regions in northern India which consist of some important historical museums. Delhi`s Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum in Birla House possesses the historical records of Mahatma Gandhi and marks the place of assassination of Gandhi. Mathura Museum, Uttar Pradesh is reputed for its collection of objects of Mathura school, of 3rd century BC to the 12th century AD. Swaraj Bhavan is another important museum of Uttar Pradesh which was the ancestral residence of the Nehru-Gandhi family and the birthplace of Indira Gandhi. Located in Punjab is Sikh Museum or Sikh Ajaibghar which is home to sculptures of Sikh warriors and Sikh freedom fighters. Containing above 80, 000 manuscripts, 6, 000 photographs and over 600 `thangkas`, the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives or LTWA is a reputed Tibetan library in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
Historical Museums of Western India
The Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum, Gujarat is a historical museum or archaeology and art in Ahmedabad, boasting of palm-leaf manuscripts, pre-Mughal miniature paintings, and sculptures belonging to the 3rd to the 11th century. Located in Vadodara, Gujarat, Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum was initially erected as a school meant for the royal children but today it contains art-forms of the Maratha Royal family most of which were collected by Maharaja Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad III during his tours overseas. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial possesses the artefacts utilized by the freedom fighter Vallabhbhai Patel and is based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Situated in Mumbai,
Maharashtra is the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya which was built during 20th century to mark the visit of the Prince of Wales to the nation. Ajmer Government Museum, Pilani Birla Museum, City Palace in Jaipur, Chittaurgarh-Fateh Prakash Palace Museum, Hawa Mahal Museum, Jaipur, Jodhpur- Umaid Bhawan Palace Museum, all in Rajasthan are amongst the innumerable museums in western India.
Historical Museums of Eastern India
The Jorasanko Thakur Bari or `House of the Thakurs` in West Bengal is the ancestral residence of the nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and his birthplace. It was here that the legendary bard had spent majority of his childhood and met his end on 7th August, 1941. Kolkata`s Indian Museum, possessing Mughal paintings, skeletons, antique jewelleries, armours, mummies, fossils, etc. is quite famous. Situated in Odisha is the Odisha State Museum, created in 1932 which is administered by the Affairs Department, Government of Odisha. Kolkata`s Marble Palace is one of the most sophisticated homes of 19th century which is renowned for ancient busts of rulers ands their queens, giant chandeliers, clocks, Victorian furniture, paintings by Indian and European painters and much more. The Patna Museum, Bihar houses archaeological coins, paintings, sculptures, `thangkas`, instruments, art-forms, paintings dating to the British Raj in India, a cannon of the First World War period and so on. The Tripura State Musuem of Ujjayanta Palace is another palace of eastern India, present in Tripura.
Historical Museums of Southern India
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are the southern Indian states which boast of historical museums. Egmore Museum, Tamil Nadu possesses the largest number of Roman artefacts outside Europe, innumerable paintings including those of Raja Ravi Varma and others. The Mahakavi Bharathi Memorial Library, Tamil Nadu is home to books and portraits of Bharathiar. Kerala`s Archaeological Museum, Thrissur possesses models of ancient temples, old manuscripts, black wares, unearthed objects from Indus Valley Civilization and Harappa, stone sculptures of the 10th century till 7th century and 12th century to 18th century, urn burials, etc. Tribal artefacts, objects of the Neolithic period to the 17th century, embellished memorial grave stones, terracotta figurines and other historical objects are preserved in the Wayanad Heritage Museum which is also termed as Ambalavayal Heritage Museum, Kerala. Another interesting museum is the Kerala Soil Museum, Thiruvananthapuram which possesses many soil varieties, including the conserved profiles of 82 soil series in Kerala.
Historical Museums of Central India
There exist several well-known museums in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, in central India. Pre-historic relics, sculptures and ancient inscriptions are existent in the Rani Durgavati Museum, Jabalpur, built in the honour of Queen Durgavati. Maharaja Chhatrasal Museum, Madhya Pradesh contains copper plates, paintings, weapons and garments all belonging to Bundela rulers, Jain images, Shiva Lingams, sculptures portraying Shakti cult, Sati pillars and much more. Also known as National Museum of Humankind or Museum of Man, the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya or IGRMS is an anthropology museum containing various aspects of the development and evolution of the human race, particularly on the Indian reference. Zonal Anthropological Museum, Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum and Raipur Open-Air Museum are amongst the numerable historical museums of Chattisgarh.
There are several Indian historical museums that earned considerable amount of recognition worldwide. Some of these popular museums include the Indian Museum, Kolkata, West Bengal, National Museum, New Delhi, Nalanda Archaeological Museum, Nalanda, Bihar, State Archaeological Gallery, Kolkata, West Bengal, Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, Pune, Maharashtra etc.
