The Indian Museum in Kolkata, arguably one of the earliest artistic establishments globally, is the biggest and most widely recognized multifunctional institution in the country and the region that comprises the Asia-Pacific region. The Asiatic Association of Bengal established the British Imperial Museum, as it is often known, nearly 200 years ago.
Within its walls lies an extensive assemblage of antiquities that tell the tale of India’s cultural and social evolution going back thousands of years. The Indian Museum showcases artifacts from anthropological research, botany, zoology, and creativity, in contrast to most other art galleries in the nation that focus on particular subjects or regions.
Some lesser-known things about the Indian Museum, Kolkata
- India’s greatest coin stockpile worldwide is kept in the Coin Exhibition at the Indian Museum.
- Almost forty varieties of plants from Nathaniel Wallich’s private inventory were given to the museum at the moment of its founding.
- The Botanical Gardens of Kolkata were developed in part by the museum’s founding curator, Nathaniel Wallich.
- The museum’s zoological holdings served as the impetus for the 1916 establishment of the Zoological Survey of India, an official agency presently housed within the Ministry of Environment, Forests, Fisheries, and Climate Change.
- One of the six Egyptian mummies in the nation is kept in the Indian Museum. In 1834, a British officer named Lieutenant EC Archbold gave it as an inheritance to the Asiatic Society.
Galleries and collections at Indian Museum, Kolkata
- Mammal Gallery (Zoology Division)
- Bird Gallery (Zoology Division)
- Mask Gallery (Anthropology Division)
- Botanical Gallery (Botany Division)
- Paintings Gallery (Art Division)
- Gandhara Gallery (Gandhara Division)
- Barhut Gallery (Archaeology Division)
- Textile Gallery (Art Division)
- Egypt Gallery (Archaeology Division)
- Gallery of Decorative Art (Art Division)
- Bronze Gallery (Archaeology Division)
The museum also houses a number of additional exhibition spaces, including those dedicated to invertebrate fossilized organisms, musical devices, the evolution of humanity, pre- and proto-historical artwork, Mughal paintings, anthropological culture, fish, minerals and rocks, amphibia and reptiles, terracotta, and minor art forms, and Siwalik, to name a few.
The museum currently includes 35 galleries, broken down into six different groups: Economic Botany, Geology, Anthropology, Art, Archaeology, and Zoology. There is a bookstore and archive on the museum grounds for anyone interested in learning more about historical events. The Indian Museum celebrated its centennial year in February 2014 with a lot of pomp. The spectacular exhibitions of the museum take you to former times, allowing you to explore its fascinating legacy.
