A must watch for anyone remotely interested in history & cultures of the world including India. Supposed to be the 3rd largest museum in India, was aware that it will take a whole day to see the entire museum. So planned to reach as early as possible to permit myself most time to explore.
The website of the museum gives in detail the times (10 – 4.15) & working days (all except Friday & Public Holidays). Also found from other sources that there is parking space nearby. They also have a canteen in the premises. Photography is strictly prohibited.
Armed with above information, reached the museum at 11. There is ample space to park inside the compound (Rs. 30/-). The ticket is Rs.10/- for an adult which is extremely low in today’s high inflation environment & also given the treat in store.
The place is well organized with each section placed inside a room & the rooms themselves are sequentially numbered making it easy to locate. The reverse of the ticket has a floor map which lists the room numbers & what to expect there so even a child can roam around easily.
Guides are available on request but are not required due to the self explanatory nature of the map. The museum comprises 2 floors – ground floor has entirely Indian origin items e.g. the Nawab’s personal stuff, sculptors, textiles, paintings, other arts, glass, bronze & iron & other metals stuff, armory, whereas 1st floor essentially houses items from across the world divided into 3 blocks viz.
Eastern block i.e. Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, Nepalese, Sri Lankan, Western block i.e. European including French & Irish and a Central block containing Persian, Arabic, etc. Some Indian items like Bidri work & Kashmiri items are also in the central block. Canteen & wash rooms are well indicated / maintained. There are supposed to be some Children sections which are still under preparation.
At the end of the exploration, if you are still not exhausted, there is a shopping center where you can get replicas of some of the items displayed in the museum.
It is a good place to take your children to explore only issue could be that they may get tired & lose interest mid way. So better to plan the sections in a manner that you cover at least the items of interest to them. While all the items are worth seeing must see in my view (only if you find it too tiresome to see the entire museum) are 1) Musical Clock 2) Veiled Rebecca 3) Double sided Statue 4) the European painting & glass section.
The Musical Clock is supposed to strike every hour but it is best to see it at 12 noon for obvious reasons. Seats get filled up fast so arrive at the auditorium 10 minutes before. In case you can’t get seats, it is still ok because they have put display screens.
The veiled Rebecca is only the 2nd such piece in the world the 1st being in Italy. It is a marble statue which appears as if the lady is shrouded in a cloth veil which is actually not cloth. The double sided statue consists of a man and woman on opposite sides carved from same wood block.
You realize there are 2 people only when you see the woman in the mirror. The European section has beautiful paintings which will make you feel as if you are in some French gallery.