Indian Museum

From ArticleWorld

The Indian Museum was built in the year 1814 and was founded by a Danish botanist, Dr. Nathanial Wallich, at Serampore near Kolkata. The museum was housed in the premises of the Asiatic Society in Kolkata from the period of 1814 to 1878. The museum is known to be the first of its kind in Asia and a historical institute known across to be one of the world’s oldest museums.

Exhibits

Starting with only two galleries of exhibits, the Indian Museum presently has over sixty galleries for the displays of art, archeology, anthropology, geology, zoology and botany. Many rare artifacts are preserved and are displayed, relating to humanities and natural science. Some of the rare displays include an Egyptian mummy, the Ashoka Pillar, the Lord Buddas ashes, fossil skeletons of prehistoric animals like the dinosaurs, a unique collection of art collections, rare antiques of all times and a collection of celestial bodies like small pieces of meteorites.

Features

The museum offers other facilities like a video corner where exhibits can be seen on video. There is also a book shop which offers a wide range of books for the palette of the young as well as the old, to know more about art and artifacts. The Indian Museum has a mobile museum to help get a better glimpse of history for the people in the nearby districts. A mobile conservation laboratory is also at handy when it is needed to evaluate and judge any findings of interests of the museum. There are training programs offered in three stages suiting ones academic qualifications. Education films shows are arranged in the museum itself in certain durations in the museum and sometimes even outdoors.

Publications

The Indian Museum has a publication division, where books on different topics of artifacts & exhibits are published and sold. Books on collections of paintings are also offered for sale.