Archives and Museums (Skill Enhancement Course) Project

MUSUEMS – Ishaan Lal (B.A. second year History Hons.)

In the simplest of terms, a museum is loosely a building in which objects of historical, scientific,
artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited. Here, it is interesting to note that the same
word has been defined by various sources with minor variations. According to UNESCO, a museum is
a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public,
which acquires, preserves, researches and communicates the tangible and intangible cultural
heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, research and enjoyment.
And according to Oxford Dictionary, a museum is a building in which objects of artistic, cultural,
historical, or scientific interest are kept and shown to the public a museum of modern art a science
museum. However, it is the definition of museum given by UNESCO which would encompass public
libraries and archival institutions maintaining permanent exhibition rooms as well as botanical
gardens with life specimens. Also, a museum is defined by International Council of Museums as a
non-profit making permanent institution in the service of society and of its development and open
to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits for purpose of
study education and enjoyment, material evidence of people and their environment.

The roots of the word, museum, go back to Latin word, ‘museum’, which in turn has been derived
from the Greek word, ‘museion’, which means a temple in dedication to the Greek goddess of Arts
and Science, ‘Muses’. World’s oldest museum came up in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I of
Egypt. It dates back to 3rd century BCE. However, the first museum to be open to public was
Ashmolean. It was opened in 1682 and consisted of collection of John Tradescant, bought by Elias
Ashmole, and donated to the Oxford University. Although there is some ambivalence in the use of
museum in the legislation, drafted in 1753, founding the British Museum, nevertheless the idea of an
institution called a museum and established to preserve and display a collection to the public was
well established in the 18th century. Indeed, Denis Diderot outlined a detailed scheme for a national
museum for France in the ninth volume of his Encyclopédie, published in 1765.

A museum today can be broadly divided into 6 categories namely of Art, Archaeology, Ethnography,
Natural History, Science and technology. These again lend themselves to divisions into two main
categories namely: Art, Archaeology and Ethnography on the one hand and Natural History, Science
and technology on the other. Also, the nomenclature of museums can be on the basis of their
authoritative placement as well as their size and location.

A museum curator (gallery curator) manages collections of works of art and artifacts. Day-to-day,
curators attend to the care and display of items, such as artwork, collections, historical or scientific
items, as well as the acquisition of new works of art, usually with the aim of educating the public.
They also provide information and design displays for the benefit of visitors. The role of curator may
overlap a bit with that of a manager, as the job can also include public relations, fundraising,
marketing, and educational programs. They also often form relationships with stakeholders and
community liaisons, prepare budgets, and manage gallery staff. Recently a new breed of curator has
emerged called ‘curators of digital data objects.’ Digital curation is the maintenance, collection,
preservation, and archiving of digital assets like digital musical scores, 3D set designs, etc. In smaller
museums and galleries, and in volunteer-based museums, a curator may have more specialized
duties, such as taking care of acquisitions and care of collections. Although they might also share
information with the public, in smaller museums this task is more commonly carried out by
volunteer staff. In larger museums, a curator will commonly fill the role as subject specialist, but will
also conduct research on objects, as well as oversee the acquisition of collections.

A museum is also a focal point for various functions. They are as follows:

1. Acquisition of Materials: Every new object that a museum adds to its collection is called an
acquisition. Museums acquire objects in several ways, of which field collection is one of the most
useful. The scientists and technicians go outside to gather specimens and data on particular subjects
which are within the scope of the museum.

2. Recording of Materials: Each acquisition is listed carefully by specialist staff. As soon as objects are
received, the data, the source, the method of acquisition and other available information are
entered in the record register.

3. Preservation of Materials: The primary purpose of museums is to preserve selected objects.

Curators know that no specimens will last forever. What museums undertake to do is to prolong the
life time of the objects. Preservation in a museum consists of two steps:

(i)Specimens must be put into a condition that checks deterioration,

(ii) The specimens must be protected.

4. Research: One important use of museum is to extract as much knowledge as possible from the
specimens. Many museums publish scholarly journals, series of papers and books to make available
the results of research on their collection.

5. Education: A number of universities conduct some courses in certain subjects at museums in order
to take advantage of the collection. Thus, museums help in spreading education too.

In India, with the entry of the British, French, Portuguese, Danish, and Armenian traders beginning in
the 13th century, the objects of trade such as textiles and decorative arts garnered much interest
and appreciation. They moved beyond the realms of trade and represented an ‘exotic’ new culture.
When the British colonized the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century, the European idea of the
museum percolated to India. Sir William Jones, one of the first British historians, formed the Asiatic
Society in 1784 at Calcutta to study India’s cultural and historical heritage, and disseminate it. This
was the germination of the seed of the idea to have a permanent space dedicated to displaying
objects and in 1796 the members of the Asiatic Society approved the proposal to start a museum.  
India’s first museum was set up at Asiatic Society, Calcutta in 1814, and was called ‘Imperial
Museum’ and was later changed to ‘Indian Museum’.

Having a collection of more than 2,00,000 objects the National Museum is one of the best and
biggest museums in the country. The blueprint for establishing the National Museum in Delhi was
prepared by the Maurice Gwyer Committee in May 1946. An Exhibition of Indian Art, consisting of
selected artefacts from various museums of India was organized by the Royal Academy, London with
the cooperation of Government of India and Britain. The Exhibition went on display in the galleries
of Burlington House, London during the winter months of 1947-48. It was decided to display the
same collection in Delhi, before the return of exhibits to their respective museums. An exhibition
was organized in the Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi in 1949, which turned out to be a great
success. This event proved responsible for the creation of the National Museum.

The success of this Exhibition led to the idea that advantage should be taken of this magnificent
collection to build up the nucleus collection of the National Museum. State Governments, Museum
authorities and private donors, who had participated in the exhibition, were approached for the gift
or loan of artefacts, and most of them responded generously. 
On August 15, 1949, the National Museum, New Delhi, was inaugurated in the Rashtrapati Bhawan
by late Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, the Governor-General of India. The foundation of the
present building was laid by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India, on May 12, 1955.
The first phase of the National Museum building was formally inaugurated by Dr. Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan, the Vice President of India, on December 18, 1960 and the second phase of the
building was completed in 1989.

The National Museum was initially looked after by the Director General of Archaeology until 1957,
when the Ministry of Education, Government of India, declared it a separate institution and placed it
under its own direct control. At present, the National Museum is under the administrative control of
the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

While the Museum continued to grow its collection through the gifts that were sought painstakingly,
artefacts were collected through its Arts Purchase Committee. The Museum, as mentioned
previously, presently holds approximately more 2,00,000 objects of a diverse nature, both Indian as
well as foreign, and its holdings cover a time span of more than five thousand years of Indian cultural
heritage. The collection includes sculptors and stones bronze, terracotta, and wood, a large
collection of miniature paintings and manuscripts, coins, arms and armours, jewellery, textiles,
costume, and anthropological objects. Antiquities from central Asia and pre-Columbian artefacts
from the 2 non-Indian collections in the museum. The museum is the custodian of the treasure trove
of India’s multi-layered history and multicultural heritage. Related to this is a National Museum fact
that if only one minute is spent with each place in the National Museum’s collection, it would take
three years, nine months and twenty-three days to view every artefact in the museum display.
Moreover, the museum has 8 departments: Conservation, Display, Exhibition, Education, Library,
Photography, Publication and Public Relations.

I first visited the museum a month prior to the COVID pandemic, on 20 February 2020. However,
that was just a recreational visit. I visited the museum for the purpose of project on 3 December
2022. I decided to visit the museum for a number of reasons. Firstly, its close to my place. Secondly,
its economic. Thirdly, it covers a wide range of phases in the Indian history as well as objects related
to each phase. And lastly, I had been there previously also, so I had the idea about the museum
layout and some sections were getting built during my previous visit, so to complete my incomplete
exploration of the place was another motivator to have driven me to the museum. However, for
some exhibitions some objects are yet to come. I used the metro to reach my destination. Leaving
my place, it takes 7 to 10 minutes from a rickshaw and 15 to 20 minutes by walk. I preferred walking
to the station. From Vishwavidyalaya metro station I took a metro to Udyog Bhawan metro station, it
being the nearest metro station on the yellow line. Again, exiting onto the Udyog Bhawan exit, I
chose to walk to the museum, the walk being a 11-to-15-minute walk as the museum from the
station is approximately 1.2 kilometres. The museum entry ticket cost was 40 rupees, 20 for each
person as I arrived there with a classmate of mine.

Upon reaching the museum area, one sees the ticket counter outside the museum gate to buy the
entry tickets which cost, as previously mentioned, 20 rupees for Indian nationals, but the same ticket
costs 650 rupees for foreign nationals. Departing from the area, one has to go through a security
check and then to the cloakroom to keep their bag there in a locker and the entry there is done
through a national ID card (PAN card, passport etc.) and from there one goes into the museum, the
entry to which is from the left.

Upon entering the museum, one sees the reception with library on the right and auditorium on the
left. The National Museum library has a vast collection of books and periodicals relating to
archaeology, anthropology, art history, paintings and museology. It is also open to use by research
scholars, students, academics and interested visitors.
The museum has three floors: ground, first and second. The layout of the ground floor is very unique
in the sense that the exit of one room becomes the entry of another. There are in total 9 galleries in
the museum – Harappan, Mauryan, Kushana, Gupta, Late Medieval, Paintings, Indian Scripts and
Coins, Decorative Arts (I and II combined) and the Anubhav Gallery. The first and I think the largest
gallery is the one on the Harappan civilisation. The newest gallery and one of the best galleries with
a unique aim in the museum is the Anubhav gallery opened in 2015. It is the first tactile gallery in
India opened to enhance the access of people with disabilities and to provide differently-abled
visitors with an equally enriching experience as other members of the audience. In October 2014,
National Museum was invited to the National conference and Exhibition on ICTs for persons with
disabilities: Taking Stock and Identifying Opportunities organized by UNESCO. At this conference it
was decided that National Museum will examine its museum's accessibility to share physical and
intellectual assets with the differently abled and subsequently, the museum came up the Anubhav
gallery. It has on display 22 tactile replicas of museum objects and a few original ones, carefully
chosen from the vast collection of National Museum by its curators representing 5000 years of
Indian art. The idea is to provide a rich and engaging experience to visitors aesthetically, historically
and intellectually. The objects range from archaeological finds, sculptures, tactile impressions of
paintings, utilitarian objects, ethnographic objects and decorative arts. The descriptions of the
objects and replicas here are also written in the Braille script for the visually impaired audience.
Audio-guides are also there. The gallery was part of a pilot project to create better access
possibilities for PWDs, in particular blind and deaf audience. The gallery was conceptualised with key
partners including UNESCO, SAKSHAM, National Platform for the Rights of Disabled (NPRD) and
Open Knowledge Community (OKC).

However, prior to visiting any gallery, while walking along the reception area, there is also a
bookrack labelled free takeaways which present some information about the museum’s layout and
galleries. Upon entering the Harappan (first) gallery, objects and virtual manifestations of the four
Ancient Civilisations, imparting knowledge about them, are there. The tour of the museum begins by
this and one of the most significant collections of Indus Valley Civilisation artefacts are viewed in this
gallery. Also, a comparison with ancient Egyptian, Chinese and Mesopotamian civilisations is there.
The whole museum has a total of 26 major stops, 3 of which are there in the Harappan gallery itself.
The gallery covers almost everything under its scope of the Harappan civilisation pre-historic
archaeology. All the artefacts which we see in the NCERT books and in Upinder Singh’s “A History of
Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century” are there and in fact
much more than that is present in the museum. However, the focal points of the gallery being The
Dancing Girl and Dholavira Town (Conjectural). The former is made of Bronze (Harappa being a
Bronze Age Civilisation) and was excavated from Mohenjodaro, a Harappan site in Pakistan’s Sindh
province. The small nude figure is an iconic representation of Harappan art era and displays large
eyes, plaited curly hair, a broad nose and wears a jewellery of the Harappan time. The latter artefact
represents the city plan of Harappan site of Dholavira. It has been reconstructed from archaeological
surveys of the site. Lastly, the showstopper was the Harappan burial of a female which occupied the
centre of the gallery and sheds light on the burial practices, class differentiation and the belief of an
afterlife in Harappa.

Exiting the Harappan gallery, we enter the Maurya, Shunga and Satavahana gallery. Here, the
depictions of the art which prospered during the 3 rd century BCE and 1st century CE. Since, the
Mauryan art is best displayed in the rock cut caves and the palace and royal architecture, the Shunga
art dominates the gallery. The best piece in the gallery was the coping stone from Bharhut Stupa.
Although believed to have been commissioned by Emperor Ashoka, the piece comes from Shunga
Madhya Pradesh and depicts the last episode of Buddha’s saga, in which his remains were regally
transported eight parts to eight kingdoms and interred in stupas. The next eye-catcher was the
railing pillar which depicted Asita’s visit. It comes from the Amravati Stupa and the railing depicts the
life of Asita, an elderly sage. He visited the baby Siddhartha and prophesised that the boy would go
on to become either a great king or a great monk. Siddhartha himself is depicted only symbolically.
Often symbolised by a Dharma wheel, an empty throne, Bodhi tree, umbrella or lotus. Here, he is
represented by the pair of footprints on the cloth held by Asita.

The next entry were the Kushana and Gupta galleries. In the former, the central piece was the
Standing Buddha. During the Kushana period, i.e., 1 st to 3rd centuries CE, the Buddha was depicted in
the human form for the first ever and the tradition continued ever from this time. The sculpture was
in the Gandhara style and was carved out of grey schist stone around the second century in
Gandhara. The Gupta period, lasting from approximately 4 th to 6th centuries CE, influenced the
conceptions of artistic beauty for centuries as during this time the sculpture flourished under the
royal patronage of the Guptas. Also, the scope of Brahmanical appropriation of the local deities was
spreading during this period due to the land grants commissioned by the royalty. This also led to the
creation of sculptural art which was concerned with the religious appropriation. Also, the cult was
Bhakti was taking shape during this time, which also adds on to the process of appropriation.
Evolution of religious iconography also took place during this time. As far as the Gupta gallery is
concerned three masterpieces have been there, standing apart from the rest of the items on display.
The first was the Ganga sculpture. In this sculpture, Ganga holds a full pot of water and stands on
the mythical Makara, the creature with the body of a crocodile and tail of a fish. To Ganga’s right
was Yamuna, astride a turtle. The next piece was a red sandstone figure of Vishnu, which was crafted
in Mathura and originally featured four arms. The lavishly ornamented figure exhibits earrings, an
ekavali necklace and strings of pearls. The last masterpiece was the Ekamukha Shivalinga. In this the
face of Shiva was adorned with a single beaded necklace (ekavali), earrings and a jatamakuta (braids
of hair as a crown). This was sculpted into the body of his linga.

The next after this gallery was the late medieval period followed by paintings gallery and decorative
arts I gallery. The paintings gallery of National Museum is home to 17,000 paintings and is the
world’s largest collection of Indian miniatures. However, the interesting this come from the galleries
after this. From the Decorative Gallery II a piece of artistic finesse is the Tusk depicting Buddha’s life
scenes. It was a remarkable five-foot-long ivory tusk featuring the life story of the Buddha, intricately
carved into forty-three small roundels. Beginning with Buddha’s birthplace, Kapilavastu, at the base
of the tusk, the story proceeds upwards towards the tip, where Buddha is represented in three
common postures – Dhyana mudra, Bhumisparsa mudra and Dharmachakrapravartana mudra.
These symbolise meditation, calling mother earth for witness and renunciation respectively.

After exploring the ground floor, we headed towards the first floor. The first floors houses galleries
of Coins, Manuscripts I and II, Maritime Heritage, Paintings and 2 Special Exhibitions. It also rooms
the National Museum Institute, Office of Director General, Admin and Display. The Manuscripts and
Special Exhibitions galleries were closed, so we did go to the rest of the galleries.

The Coins gallery had a humungous and highly impressive collection of coins. Although the
logographic writing in India goes back to the 3 rd-2nd millennia BCE, the alphabetic script appears in
the 3rd century BCE and also, it made appearance in the coins of the time. In the Coins gallery there
was a chronological sequence in which the coins according to their time periods were arranged.
Prior to Magadha coins were the coins of the 16 Mahajanapadas (including Magadha). After that was
the appearance of Magadha coins which were simple punch marked coins and were not entirely
round. Tribal coins from various parts of the country in the early historic period were also there.
Then were the Indo-Greek, Scythian and Parthian coins which can be called a refined version of the
Magadha Empire coins. They also had face of the then rulers on them. Also, there was a chart
concerned with the wide array of symbols on punch marked coins. The Kushana coins were next in
the chronology and marked the entry of gold punch marked coins in the political realm from the 1 st
century CE. And lastly, there were gold Gupta coins which depicted political events with artistic
finesse and subtlety. The coins of Samudragupta stood apart for they marked the conclusion of his
military campaigns with the performance of the Ashvamedha sacrifice. Other coins display the
depictions of marriage between Chandragupta and Kumaradevi. The Gupta monarchs are also
depicted in symbol forms and musicians, archers, lion slayers and horsemen have been used to
represent rulers. The Maritime Heritage gallery opened the windows of our knowledge about the
overseas market, trade, rule and the like, most of which was concentrated on the early modern
period. Also, Hindu Imperialism finds its mention here. Furthermore, a plethora of Tanjore and
Mysore are housed in the Paintings gallery next to the Maritime Heritage gallery.

Exiting from the first floor, we came to the second floor. This was the floor I had waited to see since
my last visit to the museum in February 2020 in the pre-lockdown period because this floor had
sections which had work underway in 2020. Second floor had 3 Central Asian Antiquities galleries, a
VEMA gallery, Tribal Lifestyle gallery, Musical Instruments gallery, Wood Carvings gallery,
Anthropological gallery, Arms & Armours gallery and 2 Conservation Labs. The Conservation Labs
were not open to visitors and unfortunately Arms & Armours gallery was temporarily closed.

The Virtual Experiential Museum on Ajanta (VEMA) gallery was one of its kind. It was designed and
executed by the National Museum Team in association with the National Council of Science Museum
and IIT Bombay. The VEMA gallery has a plethora of exhibits where the visitors can get to know a
general history of Ajanta, with several interesting facts and details about the fresco paintings
depicting stories from the life of the Buddha. The Gallery is designed to facilitate a visitor to virtually
visit the site of Ajanta with the help of immersive experiences and the augmented reality exhibits.
The VEMA Gallery has been divided into four zones: Introduction zone, Art zone, Sculpture zone and
Explore zone.

The best galleries on the second floor, or rather, in the whole of museum were the North East
gallery, Wood Carving gallery and Musical Instruments gallery. The entry to the Wood Carvings
gallery was through the Musical Instruments gallery and immediately on entering the gallery was a
Mandapa of a Home Shrine. The octagonal mandapa from some home shrine was the assemblage of
intricately carved several small panels, brackets and figurines belonging to Gujarat, may be Baroda.
Arranged in several layers mandapa depicted apsaras (feminine beauty), musicians and animal's
procession which terminates at a Tirthankara shrine providing a glimpse of the contemporary social
life of 17th century CE. Illustration of Jain subject and the treatment of human figures and their
attires on the interior panels of mandapa showed the Gujarati influence. Two of the four sides of the
main beams on its outer side showed row of seated Tirthankaras, while elephants were on its four
outer corners. The elephant rider's outfit and turban reflected the Maratha influence, while it's
perforated jali and carved niche showed the Muslim influence. Intricately carved ceiling of mandapa
reminded the famous Mount Abu temples of Rajasthan. Also, door and door frames from Gujarat
were also there. The door consisted of two massive jambs; one in front and other at the back,
double lintels, a high sill and pivoted shutters. The most heavily carved portion of the door is lintels,
tollas (they are saddle shaped wood projecting piece at each upper corner of the door) were rarely
carved. The jambs also left plain. The doors and door frames, in the houses and temples of Gujarat,
were intricately carved with Hindu or Jain God-Goddesses, musicians, flora and fauna, geometric
patterns and daily life scenes etc. It is believed that such images would protect the house and its
owner from evil influences. It also indicated the status of owner and its taste. Minute, intricate and
lattice work showed the creative skills of Gujarati craftsman. In ancient times door lintels carried
auspicious symbols either the image of Ganesha or Purnaghata (vase of plenty), flanked by floral
meanders. In addition to these were the wood carved window frames and deities, their vehicles as
well as Ravan carved out of wood.

The next section was the Musical Instruments gallery. I got attracted to the gallery by the virtue of
me being totally into music and also because of the collection of instruments which was visible from
a distance. Upon entering the gallery, one encounters a display of tribal wind instruments in the
front and tribal percussion instruments to the right. The wind instruments had a collection of horns
either natural or made by bones, wood or metal. The prominent ones being Shells, Khangling from
Ladakh, Mor-Chang from Rajasthan and a very long horn, whose name I forgot to capture. The
percussion instruments included medium sized beat drums from 19 th and 20th centuries Uttar
Pradesh and West Bengal. Upon going further right, there is a display where Western instruments,
including cello, bugle, bass drum, oboe etc. from the late 19 th and early 20th century were put to
display. Opposite to this display were stringed instruments, most of which were Kanoon like and
occupying the centre of the gallery was Saraswati with Veena made of bamboo from West Bengal.
Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of wisdom, knowledge, music and all the creative arts. She is the
Mother of the Vedas and the repository of Brahma's creative intelligence. Goddess Saraswati is the
wife (consort) of Lord Brahma and is also called Vak Devi; the goddess of speech. She possesses the
power of speech, wisdom and learning. Usually dressed in white (sign of purity), Saraswati holds a
palm leaf scroll, indicating knowledge. Her vehicle is swan. She plays music of love and life on the
Veena. She is worshipped especially on Basant Panchami, celebrated on the onset of spring; the
festival is celebrated on the 5th day of the lunar month of Magh. It marks the beginning of new life
with yellow mustard flowers starting to bloom. On further left were again the stringed instruments,
most of which were guitar- and bass-like.

The entry to the Musical Instruments gallery was the exit to the North East gallery. Hence, the
gallery prior to the Musical Instruments gallery was the North East gallery. Upon entering this
gallery, the first thing to encounter was the representation of an Angami Warrior in ceremonial
attire. He wore a heavy fringed waist belt paired with the ceremonial kilt with rows of cowries
stitched to it. It is shown with a decorated spear in his hand. The mannequin represents the male
member of the community marking social hierarchies and military expertise. Similarly, there was
representation of a Buddhist priest from Sikkim and a Thototdam dance costume from Arunachal
Pradesh (Monpa community). Further, there were many depictions of topics concerned with
demonology. In the Central Asian Antiquities gallery there were objects which came from Central
Asia to India and also there were many paintings in a dark room with lights directed upon the
paintings which were mainly from Bezeklik, China (CAA Hall III). Lastly, there was a Museum of
Buddhist Art. This had a permanent exhibition which traces the life of the Buddha, his teachings and
evolution of Buddhist philosophy and arts for over thousand years.

Along the galleries, in the main corridors, there were many stone sculptures and carvings. However,
some are still yet to be in place. Also, a good use of new technology and lighting was seen in the
museum.

And we came towards the end of our tour of the National Museum. The National Museum has a
cafeteria to satiate the hunger. The cafeteria is straight from the cloakroom and just beside it is the
Museum Shop which sells souvenir, publications, replicas, memorabilia, art pieces and much more.
For exiting from the museum premises, we have to go to cloakroom to collect our bags and check
out from the museum. While exiting we again have to go through a security check.

As Ian Finlay has rightly said, “the most positive purpose of a museum, where the man in the street
is concerned, is to stimulate curiosity, pleasure and even awe by confrontation with the works of
nature and man, through this to rouse a hunger for knowledge and give guidance.” The museum
opened up many windows for knowledge and discovery to me. Imparting a basic knowledge in every
field, it opened up to me a variety of fields to develop my interest in and maybe further be a scholar
of any one in the uncertain future. In a nutshell, museums are not just places to see odd things or
Ajayabgars, as they used to be called. They are or should be an essential part of the educational
system and cultural activities of a country. What is more, they are places of public education. Private
houses may have works of art and beauty, but they are not open to the public. It is important that
every city possesses a museum and I would add, even villages have their small museums wherever
possible. Some of the great museums of the world are not only collections of the works of art, but
are more especially fascinating in showing the development of man. Indeed, perhaps no single
museum, howsoever big, can contain all these many aspects, and it may be desirable to have several
museums to exhibit these varied cultural and other activities.

NATIONAL MUSEUM ENTRANCE

THE SPREAD OF BUDDHISM IN CENTRAL ASIAN ANTIQUITIES HALL

CAA PAINTINGS HALL

CAA PAINTING HALL: BODHISATTVA AVALOKITESHVARA FROM DUNHUANG

REPRESENTATION OF A BUDDHIST MONK FROM SIKKIM

NORTH EAST SECTION CONTAINING OBJECTS OF CONCERN WITH DEMONOLOGY

THOTOTDAM DANCE COSTUME

SARASWATI WITH VEENA

WIND INSTRUMENTS FROM MUSICAL INTRUMENTS GALLERY

WOOD CARVING ON GATE

A WINDOW FRAME DEPICTING A JAIN DEITY

STANDING UNDER MANDAPA

MANDAPA OF A HOME SHRINE

ANGAMI WARRIOR

HINDU IMPERIALISM
CHART CONTAINING SYMBOLS ON PUNCH MARKED COINS