Government Museum (Mathura)

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Government Museum, Mathura
Government Museum, Mathura

The Government Museum in the north Indian city ​​of Mathura, which is rarely visited by tourists , is one of the largest and leading museums in the country , alongside the National Museum in New Delhi , the Indian Museum in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and the Government Museum (Chennai) .

location

The museum is located on the edge of Dampier Park about 300 m west of the Mathura Cantonment Railway Station and is best reached by motor rickshaw or taxi from the city center, which is about 2.5 km north-west.

history

The museum emerged in 1874 from a private collection of the British district collector FS Growse. It was called first the Curzon Museum of Archeology , then the Archeology Museum, Mathura, and finally the Government Museum, Mathura . It changed its location several times in the early years, but since 1930 it has been housed in an octagonal building made of red sandstone, which was then newly constructed.

Collections

The museum's holdings range from prehistoric small sculptures to the important stone sculptures of the Kushana period (2nd / 3rd century) to later Buddhist , Hindu and Jainist works from temples in the near and far surroundings.

  • anthropomorphic copper figurine, Shahabad
    (approx. 1000 BC)

  • Bodhisattva with a turban (approx. 1st century)

  • Statue of Kanishka I. (ruled approx. 127–140), Kushana period
    (approx. 2nd / 3rd century)

  • Head of a Jaina figure, Chamunda Mound near Mathura (approx. 5th century)

  • meditating Vishnu with club ( gada ) and throwing disc ( chakra )
    (approx. 11th / 12th century)

  • Vishnu as a dwarf ( vamana )
    (approx. 11th / 12th century)

literature

Web links

Commons : Government Museum (Mathura)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 27 ° 29 ′ 34 ″  N , 77 ° 40 ′ 50 ″  E