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BY HARPREET KAUR
March 14, 2005
 It
took me an hour to walk down from the Rashtrapati Bhavan
to the National Museum /archives. It was 1pm when I
reached. It is located bang at the corner of Janpath and
Maulana Azad Road, a circular building with three
floors. Like many other government offices, it is
painted red and yellow. The security is tight, we are
physically checked, our bags searched and then only let
in. With a collection of over 2,00,000 works both Indian
and foreign, many in precious metal and stone, it is
understandable.
History
A blueprint for the National Museum was created by
the Gwyer Committee in 1946. The collection of items
from various museums across India, in Delhi at
Rashtrapati Bhavan in 1949 was the event responsible for
the creation of the National Museum that would house
artefacts. The exhibition continued at the Rashtrapati
Bhavan till the museum building was ready in 1960. Its
space now holds a collection that spans an era of over
5,000 years.
Chronologically placed artefacts trace the history of
India as well ages in ancient history of the world. They
have displays, films, guided tours, lectures and
training programmes, reserve collection, library and the
conservation laboratory. The collection has pre-historic
archaeology, jewellery, paintings, arts, manuscripts,
antiquities from Central Asia, arms, armour, clothes
etc.
Sections
 Indian
sculptural art is the backbone of the National Museum.
It has 9,000 objects representing all the schools and
periods. It has carved stone works, terracottas,
bronzes, stucco figures, gold, silver, bone and ivory
images dating from 3 century BCE to the 19th century.
There are 10,000 objects of anthropology in this museum,
and rare items that have come from various states and
cities in the 1950s – 60s (collected from tribal and
rural areas). The armoury section has weapons ranging
from daggers to swords. Many of them are double-edged
and so heavy that we would need at least three pairs of
hands to just lift it off the stand! Projectiles,
hammers, armours for men and animals, ornamental,
sacrificial and ritual weapons find their place with
firearms and war accessories here.
The antiquities from Central Asia are breathtaking, with
over 11,000 objects from the Sianking region of China,
and they were discovered by Sir Aurel Stein in three
expeditions and are a rare collection.
Paintings, miniatures, manuscripts, art of calligraphy
and drawings form a vast treasure. But the best of all I
liked was the collection of some 10 to 12 paintings by a
Mughal painter on Laila Majnu. Majnu is shown roaming
the desert, is entirely dark-skinned and so skinny his
ribs and other bones are sticking out, while Laila is so
beautiful. One wonders after seeing these pictures;
Would the wonderful Laila have fallen for the commoner
Majnu? Just a casual thought…
These paintings have perfect physical forms and you will
also find a collection of miniatures on palm-leaf from
Eastern India in the 10th and the 12th century.
The coin and currency section is remarkable with rare
and antique coins from India starting from the 6th
century BCE. This entire collection has 1,18,000 coins
in gold, silver, copper, alloy, potin and lead.
The first floor gallery has two cupboards, containing
the stone tools found across India belonging to the
lower Palaeolithic period to the Neolithic age and also
copper hoard objects. Mr and Mrs Heeramaneck have
donated the pre-Columbian art objects.
The star of the museum is the strong room or the room
with a built-in vault. It displays gold objects like a
statue of Buddha weighing 20 kg in pure gold, an Ivory
screen with four folds having pictures of Mumtaz Mahal
and Shah Jahan, and other gold objects, precious stones,
Tanjore paintings studded with almost two inch large
stones of rubies, diamonds, emeralds and gold foil. This
is the room that literally glitters.
Although I have not described the entire museum, I can
say that it took me an entire four hours to go through
it and yet I missed some of the sections, By now, I was
so tired I just sat down next to a security woman for
sometime, before leaving. For the museum aficionados, go
check out the Delhi National Museum, it is worth every
cent of expense that you will incur to reach it.
Factfile
All roads, airways and rails lead to Delhi. Bang at
the centre of Janpath and Maulana Azad Road lies the
museum, catch a rickshaw and tell the driver where you
want to go, or hire a cab (don’t hesitate to bargain)
Open from 10 am to 5pm, the charges range from Rs 10 to
Rs 300. Please check while entering. Mondays the museum
is closed.
Contact details:
Mr. U. Das (Keeper, Public Relations)
National Museum,
Janpath, New Delhi - 110 011
Tel. No. 91+011+23018415, 23019272/237
E-mail rdchoudh@ndf.vsnl.net.in
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