POPULAR MUSEUMS IN INDIA.

INDIAN MUSEUM.
The Indian Museum is the largest and oldest museum in India and has rare collections of antiques, armour and ornaments, fossils, skeletons, mummies, and Mughal paintings. It was founded by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, in 1814. The founder curator was Dr Nathaniel Wallich, a Danish botanist. It has six sections comprising thirty five galleries of cultural and scientific artifacts namely Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Geology, Zoology and Economic Botany. Exhibits of the museum include dinosaur skeletons, replica of the 2nd century BC Barhut Stupa, etc. In the must watch category, we have the 4,000-year-old Egyptian Mummy and the urn that is said to contain the relics of the Buddha.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART.
Once the palace of the Maharaja of Jaipur, this gallery is a repository of the works of all the great modern Indian artists. Here you can find works by Amrita Sher-Gil, Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore and MF Husain.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART (NGMA).
If you wish to attend lectures, seminars and conferences, and to encourage higher studies and research in the field of art history, art criticism, art appreciation, musicology and the inter-relations on visual and performing arts then NGMA is the place for you. The idea of a national art gallery to germinate and bear fruit was first mooted in 1949. It was nurtured carefully by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad, sensitive bureaucrats like Humayun Kabir and an active art community. The Gallery is the premier institution of its kind in India. The gallery is a repository of the cultural ethos of the country and showcases the changing art forms through the passage of the last 150 years. Notwithstanding some gaps, the NGMA collection today is undeniably the most significant collection of modern and contemporary art in the country today.

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.
If you only visit one museum in Delhi, make sure it’s the National Museum. A couple of hours’ stay here will equip you with the historical knowledge you will need for when you go exploring the capital city as well as the rest of India. Documenting history and culture of the Indian subcontinent, the museum owns some 150,000 items covering some 5 millennia. Some of the gems of the museum are the Chola statue of the cosmic dance of Lord Shiva, finds from the Indus Valley Civilization, relics of the Buddha from Piprahwa and an amazing collection of miniature paintings.

VICTORIA MEMORIAL.
The monument which draws the largest crowds to Kolkata is the Victoria Memorial, dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria. It houses an excellent collection of British Raj memorabilia including paintings and manuscripts. The foundation stone of this domed structure was laid by the then Prince of Wales (later King George V) in 1906.

SALAR JUNG MUSEUM.
The Salar Jung Museum is an art museum located at Darushifa, on the southern bank of the Musi River in the city of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is one of the National Museums of India. It has a collection of sculptures, paintings, carvings, textiles, manuscripts, ceramics, metallic artefacts, carpets, clocks, and furniture from Japan, China, Burma, Nepal, India, Persia, Egypt, Europe, and North America. The museum's collection was sourced from the property of the Salar Jung family. It is one of the largest museums in the world.

CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI MAHARAJ VASTU SANGRAHALAYA.
If ever a window was required to peep into the fascinating world of art and antiquities, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India is the right place to visit. This museum is most famous for having acquired a huge collection of Indian miniatures and other important antiquities, more particularly, the Maratha textiles, arms and armour from the collection of Seth Purshottam Mavji. This collection was once a part of the treasures of Nana Phadnavis, the most influential minister during the reign of the Peshwas. The importance of the museum has also been enhanced due to the donation of a fascinating art collection from the repository of Sir Ratan Tata and Sir Dorabji Tata. Built from a winning entry by architect George Wittet in 1909, the museum offers insights into the rich past of the country with its archaeological artefacts sourced from various excavated sites. The museum has a representative collection of various forms of art from the Indian subcontinent and also to a certain extent works of art from China, Japan and European countries. Additionally, it houses a study collection of natural history specimens.

ALBERT HALL.
The building gets its name from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the inspiration for its design. The exquisitely built Albert Hall is housed in the centre of Ram Niwas Garden.
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