Archaeological Museum, Lothal

The Archaeological Museum at Lothal was setup in 1976. In the museum it displays artifacts recovered from the excavation conducted from 1952 to 1961. 

It showcases beads, terracotta ornaments, shell and ivory objects, copper and bronze objects, tools and potteries yielded from excavations. There are about 800 objects are on display in the museum.

Sadly photography is not allowed inside the museum. Outside the museum there is a tree and there I spotted a new bird that I had not seen before.

ASI Museum Sculptures - 2, Shimoga

In Shimoga in the fort area is the 16th century Shivappa Nayak Palace  has been converted into a A.S.I Museum. There are many sculptures in this museum which were excavated from various regions. Some of them are sculptures of Bodhisattva. 

In early Indian Buddhism, Bodhisattva was primarily used to refer specifically to Gautama Buddha in his former life. Here is sculpture of 2nd century Gandhara style Bodhisattva Head excavated from Taxila.

Here is another sculpture of 5th century Gupta style Bodhisattva Head excavated from Saranath.

Tara in Tibetan Buddhism, is a female form of Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. Here is sculpture between 11 - 12 century Gupta style Tara female Head in black stone from Alwar. Another is sculpture between 9 - 10 century Prathihara style Tara female Head in white stone excavated from Saranath.

Government Museum Complex, Chennai

The Government Museum Complex in Chennai is a hub of human history and culture. It is located in the neighbourhood of Egmore.

The complex has both old and new sections. Some of the sections in the museum are as old as 1851. Among them, the colossal Museum Theatre is one of the most impressive.

The National Art Gallery, Government Museum, Bronze Gallery, Children Museum are present in the complex.

There are several Cannons at the museum complex.

The fossil trunk displayed here is about twenty million years old. Tree carried by rivers were deposited inland lakes and were transformed into fossil tree trunks by silica replacing the woody matter.

Gandhi Smriti, Bhavanagar

Gandhi Smriti in Bhavanagar is a monument built in 1955 that signifies the life and service of Mahatma Gandhi. The ground floor houses the Barton Museum that showcases the archaeological remains of the surrounding areas. 

The first floor houses the Gandhi Museum  that depicts life of father of the nation and rare photographs from the life of Gandhi.

In addition to the above it also has library and Khadi Gramodyog Bhandar. Visiting time is 09:00 am to 12:00 pm and 03:00 pm to 06:00 pm. But unfortunately we were late and we could not visit the museum.                                                          

Poetry in Stone - 30

This is thirtieth in the series on the rich cultural heritage of ancient temples in India. The ancient temples showcase  sculptural work that is unmatched anywhere in the world.

A beautiful Shivalinga at Parasurameswara Temple in Bhubaneshwar, the unique feature is that there are several miniature Shivalinga carved on it. It is said t there are all together 1000 on them.

The external wall of the Jain Temples inside the Golden Fort at Jaisalmer has several beautiful sculptures carved on them.

One of the many carvings on the ceiling of Thousand Pillar Basadi at Moodabidri.

At A.S.I Museum in Shimoga there are several sculptures excavated from various locations in India. They are on display in the lawn of the museum.

Vivekananda House, Chennai

Born on 12 January 1863, Swami Vivekananda was an chief disciple of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world. He is that he made at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893 and introduced Hinduism to the World.

After returning back to India from Chicago he stayed in a house at Chennai for nine days and hence this house has been called Vivekananda House. Now, this historic place houses a permanent exhibition on Indian Culture and Swami Vivekananda’s Life. 

The exhibition is open to public all days from 10.00 AM to 12.15 PM and from 3.00 PM to 7.15 PM except Wednesdays. I could not see the exhibition as I was too early to this place.

Images of India - 142

A glimpse of India in black and white. Other posts provide more details on the place.

A model of GSLV on display at HAL Museum in Bangalore

Images of India - 133

A glimpse of India in black and white. Other posts provide more details on the place.

Radar on display at HAL Museum in Bangalore

Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Vadodara

Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery located at Sayajibaug in Vadodara is one of the finest museums in the country. Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III founded this museum in 1887 and it was opened to the public in 1894.

This museum resembles Victoria & Albert and Science Museums of London. The building on the lines of Indo-Saracenic architecture was designed by Major Charles Mant and R.F. Chisholm.

It showcases a rich collection of art, sculpture, wood carvings, Akota bronzes. The picture gallery has diverse works of art from both India and abroad, including works by British painters J. M. W. Turner and John Constable, a gallery of Tibetan art, and a collection of Mughal miniature paintings. Here one can also see The Egyptian mummy and skeleton of a blue whale. 

Sayaji Baug, Vadodara

Sayaji Baug at Vadodara is one of the largest garden that spreads over 113 acres. This garden on the river Vishwamitri was built by Maharaja Sayaji Rao Gaekwad III in the year 1879.

There are altogether three gates to the park and one of them is near Sayaji square. As one enters through this gate can see floral clock consisting of an hour, minute and seconds hand that move on the 20 ft diameter dial.

This beautiful place is rich with flora that includes more than 98 species of trees. The park has toy train and play area for the kids.

In this garden one can also see the Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, the Sardar Patel Planetarium.

Another interesting area in the park is Sayaji Baug Zoo. 

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum, Mumbai

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum in Mumbai near Gateway of India was established in the early years of the 20th century by prominent citizens of the city with the help of the Government.

The museum building is built in the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. However it also has elements of other styles of architecture like the Mughal, Maratha and Jain. Built in basalt and kurla stone, this three-storied rectangular structure is capped by a dome that rises above the central porch. 

The dome is tiled in white and blue flecks, supported on a lotus - petal base. A cluster of pinnacles, topped with miniature domes surround the central dome. 

The museum houses approximately 50,000 exhibits of ancient Indian history as well as objects from foreign lands, categorized primarily into three sections: Art, Archaeology and Natural History. 

The museum houses Indus Valley Civilization artifacts, and other relics from ancient India from the time of the Guptas, Mauryas, Chalukyas and Rashtrakuta.

Gandhi Ashram, Ahmedabad

On the last day of our trip to Gujarat, we visited peaceful environment of Sabarmati Ashram or Gandhi Ashram at Ahmedabad is on the banks of the river Sabarmati. There were people reading books and involved in various activities and total silence everywhere. This is one of the residences of Mahatma Gandhi after he returned from South Africa. Since 1917 he lived there for about twelve years along with his wife, Kasturba Gandhi.

It was established by him as he intended to conduct some experiments in living eg farming, animal husbandry, cow breeding, Khadi and related constructive activities. It served as one of the main centers of the Indian freedom struggle. While he was in the ashram he formed a school that focused on manual labor, agriculture, and literacy to advance his efforts for self-sufficiency. 

This is the place from where he launched the famous Dandi march in protest of the British Salt Law, which taxed Indian salt in an effort to promote sales of British salt in India. Over the years, the Ashram became home to the ideology that set India free. 

Today ashram has a museum, the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalay containing life-size paintings, around 35,000 books dealing with Gandhi's life, work, teachings. Vinoba Kutir is a cottage named after Acharya Vinoba Bhave. Upasana Mandir is an open-air prayer ground. 

Today, the Ashram serves as a source of inspiration and guidance, and stands as a monument to Gandhi’s life mission and a testimony to others who have fought a similar struggle.

ASI Museum Sculptures - 1, Shimoga

In Shimoga (State: Karnataka) in the fort area is the 16th century Shivappa Nayak Palace of Keladi Dynasty. Today, this palace also serves as a museum for Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). 

There are lot of sculptures in the museum garden on display which were excavated from many parts of the country.

Above is the idol of Lord Krishna  belonging to 16th century A.D. At the bottom of the idol one can also see beautiful carving of Garuda. 

Above is the idol of Vrabhadra belonging to 16th century A.D. Every detail is carved beautifully.

National Art Gallery, Chennai

The National Art Gallery located in Egmore area of Chennai, is one of the oldest art galleries in India. Henry Irwin designed this Gallery in Indo-Saracenic in a well orchestrated combination of Mughal, Hindi and classical elements. Main front echoes Buland Darwaza in Fatehpur Sikri. 

It has been constructed in 1906 with red stones. The gallery contains several Mugul paintings and rare works of Raja Ravi Varma. There is also a good collection of Tanjore Paintings.

The gallery is closed at present as ASI has taken up the work of restoration.

HAL Aerospace Museum - 1, Bangalore

The Heritage Centre & Aerospace Museum at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore, is the first aerospace museum in India. The museum has a wonderful collection of air-crafts that were previously used by the nation in defense.





There are also several models of the plane in the museum.

Heritage Centre & Aerospace Museum, Bangalore

The Heritage Centre & Aerospace Museum at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore, is located on Airport Road, 8 km. from M. G .Road towards Marathalli. The museum has a wonderful collection of air-crafts that were previously used by the nation in defense.

The front of the museum has beautiful colorful designs painted with various colors red, green, blue and yellow etc.,



There are several rooms in the museum which show the growth of technological growth of our nation in the field of Aerospace. Apart from real air-crafts there are also several miniature models of air-crafts. They are beautifully arranged in the museum.



One of the several fighter air-crafts on display. Tour of the city is not complete without a visit to this museum.

Junagarh Fort Museum, Bikaner

In Bikaner the Junagarh Fort is an imposing structure. The fort has several palaces built over different time from 1588 to 1593.

Each of the palace here are unique. One of them is Gagan Mahal built in the early 20th century. It was contribution by the Maharaja Ganga Singh.


It is a pink sandstone hall and the walls are carved with delicate tracery and scrollwork. It houses part of fort museum.

There are an exotic array of antique Rajput weaponry is on display including jade-handled daggers to ivory-inlaid muskets.