Patna Museum

Patna Museum is the state museum of the Indian state of Bihar. Started on 3 April 1917 during the British Raj to house the historical artefacts found in the vicinity of Patna,^[3][4][5] it is in the style of Mughal and Rajput architecture and is known locally as the Jadu Ghar. The artefacts from ancient India era to 1764 have now been transferred to Bihar Museum.

Patna Museum

Patna Museum Show map of India Patna Museum (Bihar) Show map of Bihar
Established	3 April 1917 (1917-04-03)
Location	Buddha Marg, Patna, Bihar
Coordinates	25°36′45″N 85°07′59″E / 25.61250°N 85.13306°E / 25.61250; 85.13306
Type	Archaeological & Natural^[1]
Key holdings	Lohanipur torso
Visitors	800,119 (2007)
Director	JPN Singh^[2]

The KP Jayaswal Research Institute (KPJRI) which carries out research in the field of history and archaeology also operates out of Patna Museum and was established by the Bihar Government.^[6]

History

The museum was constructed by the British to conserve and display the historical artifacts found in the vicinity of the state capital. The concept of having a museum arose in 1912, after Bihar and Bengal were separated. Patna Museum started functioning in 1915 from the commissioner's bungalow, on the campus of A. N. Sinha Institute.

The artifacts were then shifted to new rooms at the Patna High Court building before being taken to the present building in 1929. The land that was selected for the museum, in 1925, was on Patna-Gaya road (now Budh Marg). The two-storeyed building, designed by Rai Bahadur Bishnu Swarup, was completed in 1928.^[7][8] It was opened as the first museum of Bihar and Orissa Province by then Governor of Bihar and Orissa, Sir Hugh Lansdown Stephenson.^[7]

Collections

Items on display in the multipurpose museum include archaeological objects, coins, art objects, paintings, instruments, textiles, paintings, thankas, bronze images and sculptures and terra cotta images by Hindu and Buddhist artists.^[1] It has a rare collection of British-period paintings depicting day-to-day life, as well as a fine collection related to the first President of India, Rajendra Prasad. It also houses a World War I cannon.^[9]

The fossil of a tree said to be more than 200 million years old is on display,^[1] as is a casket — unearthed in 1958 by archaeologist, A. S. Altekar, at the Relic Stupa of Vaishali — said to contain the sacred ashes (relics) of Gautama Buddha.^[10] A Didarganj Yakshi statue, discovered on a Ganges riverbank in 1917, was the museum's most prized collection,^[1] which was later shifted to Bihar Museum. The artefacts from ancient India era to 1764 are kept in Bihar Museum^[11] and those of post-1764 period are kept at Patna Museum.^[12][13]Rahul Sankrityayan donated 10,000 manuscripts that are written in gold and silver on handmade papers and books on Buddhist philosophy that were once in the library of ancient Nalanda and Vikramshila universities. These manuscript were taken to Tibet dating back of around 700 years ago before the destruction of these universities. These manuscripts were brought by him. Beginning November 2009, a project was started to build a replacement museum in Patna to enable the display of larger collections.

Heritage tunnel to Bihar Museum

In January 2023, Government of Bihar appointed Delhi Metro Railway Corporation Ltd as consultant for the construction of a 1.4-km-long proposed subway (heritage tunnel) between Bihar Museum and Patna Museum.^[14][15] In August 2023, cabinet of Bihar Government approved the construction of heritage tunnel at the revised cost of ₹ 542 crore.^[16]

K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute

The K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute in Patna was established by the Government of Bihar in 1950 with the object of promoting "historical research, archaeological excavation and investigations and publication of works of permanent value to scholars". The institute is currently based out of Patna Museum.^[17]

Gallery

•  
  Lohanipur torso, 3rd century BCE
•  
  Brick Sculpture of Buddha
•  
  Pataliputra palace capital (front and left-side view), early Maurya Empire period, 3rd century BCE.
•  
  'Dwar Stambh', Udyagiri, 8th Century AD
•  
  Buddha, Gaya, 10th Century
•  
  Samvara, Ratnagiri, 10th Century
•  
  Tara, Gaya, 10th-11th Century

See also

• International Museum Day
• Bihar Museum
• Jalan Museum

References

1. . patna.bih.nic.in. Archived from the original on 29 December 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
2. . Telegraphindia.com. 10 February 2014. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
3. "Patna Museum to turn 100 today". The Times of India. 4 April 2017. from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
4. "Exhibition on 100 yrs of museum concludes". The Times of India. 5 April 2017. from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
5. . Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. Bhushan, Sudanshu (2021). Governance of Higher Education in Bihar: Influence of Power Centers. Routledge. p. 30. ISBN 9781000379839. from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
7. Abhay Kumar, Patna, 21 December 2013 (21 December 2013). "Museum artefacts find place in Belgium festival". Deccanherald.com. from the original on 23 December 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
8. "This museum in Bihar houses a 2300-year-old sculpture carved out of a single stone". from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
9. . Bstdc.bih.nic.in. Archived from the original on 18 September 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
10. Pranava K. Chaudhary, in Times of India, 1 March 2003.
11. "CM turns attention to Patna museum".^{[dead link]}
12. "Renovation of century-old Patna Museum to begin from next month". from the original on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
13. "CM for expansion of old Patna Museum". The Times of India. 24 October 2017. from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
14. "DMRC named consultant for tunnel between Patna museums". The Times of India. 24 January 2023. from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
15. "Nitish Kumar asks officials to develop proposed subway between Bihar Museum and Patna Museum as a 'world-class heritage tunnel'". The Times of India. 17 November 2021. from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
16. "Rs 542cr for 1.5-km-long tunnel to connect 2 museums in Patna".
17. Tripathi, Piyush (2021). "Upgraded Patna Museum to be magnificent: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar". Times of India. from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022.

 

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