Museum

Every year 18th May is celebrated as International Museum Day. This day is of great importance for the museum professionals. On this day they get the opportunity to meet the common people. In 1877, the international council if museum has decided to celebrate International Museum Day every year to create awareness among the people about the importance of museum. This council works in 137 countries of American, European, African and Asian continents. Near about thirty thousand museums of the world are affiliated with the Indian Council of Museum. The museums are an important medium of cultural prosperity and cultural exchange. Mutual understanding, co-operation and universal peace can inhibit through this medium. Museums are the soul of those organizations which are related with social make -up.

Establishment of museum in India:

Asiatic Society OF Bengal

In India, the Asiatic Society of Bengal was established in 1774 at Kolkatta. This established the first Indian museum in 1814. After this the Victoria museum at Chennai and Albert Museum at Mumbai were established in 1851. The development of museum received a good impetus during the regime of British officer Lord Curzon. Due to initiative steps taken by Sir John Marshal, the director general of archaeology, excavations were done at various places and the ancient objects found were exhibited at the place of excavation. Two such museums of excavated objects were established in 1904 at Sarnath and in 1917 at Nalanda. The municipal corporation of some cities also established museums. Some of them are Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj museum at Mumbai (earlier known as Prince of Wales museum), Allahabad Museum at Allahabad, Mahatma Phule museum at Pune and museums established at Kolkatta and Baroda. The museum of Indian historical research association, Pune and Kamguru’s research association, Guwahati were also established by local organizations.

Archaeological museums:

Archaeological Excavation

The concept of museum is quite old in the Indian subcontinent. But the concept and arrangement of modern museum has come in India by European method. The concept of archaeological museum is almost a decade old in India. The Archaeological Survey of India has established museum branch in 1964 and encouraged the concept of archaeological museum. Today, there are 44 museums under this branch. The main aim of these archaeological museums is the conservation and preservation of excavated sites and monuments. The invaluable treasure of Indian history began to reveal in the form of archaeological relics due to the excavation and development attempts. The policy of the Archaeological Survey of India to preserve these archaeological relics in their original form and in the natural environment, gave rise to the concept of archaeological museum.

Archaeological museum of Lothal:

Lothal is a port situated at a distance of 2 Kilometers from Saragwala village in Ahemadabad district. This ancient place was excavated by Professor S.R Rao during the period of 1955-1962. Due to this excavation the city of Sindhu culture of the period 2500-1900 B.C came into existence. During the excavation a wall of thirteen meter width was found, which was built to protect the city from flood. This city was enriched with all type of facilities which included bathrooms, firm drainages, wells, brick houses and roads. The archaeological museum of Lothal was established in 1976. The main objective of the museum was to conserve the archaeological remains found in the excavation. The museum has three galleries. The first gallery has models of the people of Lothal during the Hadappan period. The models are developed on the basis of scientific proofs obtained in the excavation. This gallery also has charts and pictures giving information of excavation. The second gallery has earthenware, tools, ornaments and stone pearls. The third gallery has pearls, unicorn, elephants and Persian symbols.

Important museums in India:

1) In South India, museums are developed in the temples of some cities like Shrirangpattanam and Madurai.

Indian National Museum - Delhi

2) The Indian National Museum was established at Delhi in 1949 with the combined attempts of Sir Marshal, Lord Curzon and Mortimer Wheeler.

3) The other important Indian museums are Indian Museum, Kolkatta, National Museum, Delhi, Shivaji Maharaj Museum, Mumbai, Fort Museum, Chennai, Central Museum, Nagpur, Mysore Museum, Bangaluru, Government Museum, Jaipur, Salarjung Museum, Hyderabad and Raja Kelkar Museum, Pune.

4) There are also various subject oriented museums in India like Dolls Museum, Children Museum and Modern art and technology museum. All these museums are situated at Delhi.

5) Other subject oriented museums includes Indian Encyclopedia Museum, Bangaluru, Bharat Kala Bhawan of Banaras Hindu University, Science and Culture museum at Aligad and Shantiniketan Kala Bhavan.

Ten best museums of the world:

1) Musee du louvre - Paris:

This museum is a paradise for the art lovers. It has 35 thousand best pieces from Venus di Melo to Mona Lisa. The 69 feet glass pyramid built in front of the museum is also striking. Near about 85 lakh people visit this museum every year.

2) National Air and Space museum, Washington:

This museum was established in 1976 in the National Mall. It has many historical aircrafts and spacecrafts. The museum has 50 thousand original artifacts right from the first aircraft of Right brothers to the first sight of the rock on the moon. 83 lakh people visit this museum every year.

3) National Museum of Natural History - Washington

This museum is made up of fossils of dinosaur, hope diamond, and 10 million striking monuments. 68 lakh people visit this museum every year.

4) British Museum - London:

This museum is one of the biggest museums of the world. The entry is free in the museum. The museum has galleries of two and half meters in length. There are 70 lakh ancient objects in this museum. Rosetta stone and Elgin marbles are the major attraction of the museum. 52 lakh people visit the museum every year.

5) Metropolitan Museum of Art - London:

In 2010, there has been an increase of three lakh visitors in this museum due to Picasso exhibition and Big Bamboo installation. The Alexander McQueen show of 2011 also became very popular in this museum.

6) Tate Modern - London:

This museum was started in 2000 and became very popular in a short span of time. Along with the artistic work of Dolly, Margaret and Matisse, the huge installation kept in the Turbine hall forms the major attraction of this museum.

7) American Museum of Natural History - New York

The museum was started in 1869. it has three departments namely Koch Dinosaur Wing, Morgan Hall Of Gems and Milstein Hall Of Ocean Life. There is a huge model of whale fish in this museum. Hayden Planetarium and IMAX Theater are also a part of this museum.

8) National Gallery - London:

The museum has collection of western European paintings from the period of 16th century to 19th century. The museum is situated at the Trafalgar Square and has free entry. The artistic works of Van Gogh and John Constable could be seen in this museum.

9) National Gallery of Art - Washington:
This museum was started in 1941. The museum is made up of the ancient things donated by Andrew Mellon from his coveted collection. The museum has many master pieces.

10) Vatican Museum - Rome:

This museum was started from the sculptures collected by Pope Julius II in the sixteenth century. The artistic works of Michelangelo and Caravaggio can be seen in this museum.