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The Indian Museum...

The Indian Museum in the City of Calcutta is the largest and the oldest Museum of India. Being founded by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta in 1814, is over 200 years old. The museum is located in the heart of the city of Calcutta at Park Street.The founder curator of the museum Nathaniel Wallich, a Danish Botanist started the museum as an multi purpose museum. The Museum known as the 'Imperial Museum' before independence of India holds a rare collection of cultural and scientific artifacts in its six sections and thirty five galleries. Presently the Museum is controlled by the Ministry of Culture of the Government of India.
                   Indian Museum houses a large collection of rare artifacts that describe the social and cultural history of India and the World from Pre-historic times. Unlike other Museums dedicated to specific subjects, the Indian Museum displays a range of objects from different fields which include archeology, art, anthropology, zoology and botany. Thus Indian Museum is a must visit once in the City of Joy. The Museum was opened with two galleries but over the period of time the number of galleries increased. Most of the artifacts were collected but some of the artifacts were also donated by Indian and European nationals.
Lawn of Indian Museum
                   The museum holds a large number of prehistoric fossils of animals and plants. Some of the fossils present are more than 10,000 years old. The museum also has an large collection of skeletons of Dinosaur, Elephants, Mammoths and apes. The museum also has different galleries under the Zoological section which include Bird Gallery, Insect Gallery, Fish Gallery, Amphibia and Reptilia Gallery, Invertebrate Fossils Gallery and Mammal Gallery. The Zoological galleries store multiple stuffed animals, specimen preserved in chemicals, charts regarding the evolution of the animals and many other wonders. The museum also holds an botanical gallery that have many specimen of plants and micro-organisms. Under the Botanical Gallery there are many tree trunks present in the museum that come from the plants that are more than thousand years old. At the time of its inception, Nathaniel Wallich founder of the Museum donated over 40 botanical specimens from his personal collection to the museum. The Bronze gallery of the museum holds different artifacts from the bronze age that include utensils, weapons and many other sculptures. The Gandhara Gallery of the museum showcases different aspects of life in the medieval India. There are different engravings, sculptures, structures and even an engraving that is believed to have the foot steps of Lord Buddha. The Coin Gallery of the museum has large collection of coins from all over the world from different period of time. The Indian Museum holds the largest collection of Indian coins in the whole World. The Indian Museum also has an Egyptian Gallery that holds many Egyptian artifacts including a coffin and a real mummy which is one of the six Egyptian mummies present in India. The other galleries of the museum include Barhut Gallery, Mask Gallery, Paintings Gallery, Textile Gallery, Musical Instrument Gallery, Pre and Proto Historic Gallery, Terracotta Gallery, Siwalik Gallery, Rock and Mineral Gallery of many galleries. Among many galleries one gallery that gets special mention is the Mughal Art Gallery holding some of the most beautiful oil paintings of the World.
Bharhut Gallery of Indian Museum
                    The Indian Museum is not just an museum but is an heritage bearing property of the City of the Joy. It holds a lot of knowledge for the people of all ages and interest's. The Museum bearing a part of the World History and can engage anyone in its charms for long hours. It is highly recommended to visit the place if at Calcutta. Though visiting all the galleries of the museum is a time taking task but the visit will be a worthy one. 
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