The National Museum in Saddi Dilli gives an overview of India’s last 5000 years. The museum as we see it today in the majestic building on the corner of Janpath and Maulana Azad Road is the prime museum in the country. The blue-print for establishing the National Museum in Saddi Dilli had been prepared by the Gwyer Committee set up by the Government of India in 1946.
The National Museum in Saddi Dilli was formally inaugurated on 15th August, 1949 by the Governor-General of India, Shri R.C Rajagopalachari. The museum functioned in the Rashtrapati Bhavan during its initial years before the foundation of the present building was laid by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India, on 12th May, 1955. The new building was handed over to the Museum authorities in June 1960 and it formally opened to public on December 18, 1960.
This splendid museum’s exhibits include rare relics from the Harappan civilization, Central Asian antiquities (including silk paintings from the 1st century AD), sacred Buddhist objects, jewel-bright miniature paintings, old coins (including Portuguese, Dutch and Danish), woodcarving, textiles, musical instruments, fearsome Mughal weaponry, Persian manuscripts, and Indus jewelry made from shells and bones.
The National Museum has in its possession over 2,00,000 works of exquisite art, both of Indian and Foreign origin covering more than 5,000 years of our cultural heritage. It’s rich holding of various creative traditions and disciplines which represents a unity amidst diversity, an unmatched blend of the past with the present and strong perspective for the future, brings history to life.
Apart from a collection of pre-historic archaeology, jewelry, paintings, decorative arts, manuscripts, central Asian antiquities, arms and amour, etc, the museum today has separate branches of publication, Hindi, public relations, education, library, exhibition cell, display, modeling, photography, security and administration. A well-equipped conservation laboratory not only provides restoration to all the organic and inorganic art objects but also training facilities to students and deserving professionals, including restoration of oil-paintings in India.
The National Museum institute of history and art, conservation and museology came into existence in 1983 and now is deemed to be a university which provides various courses within its campus at the National Museum.
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