91A, Rani Baug, Veer Mata, Jijbhai Bhonsle Udyan , Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marg, Byculla East, Mumbai-400027. Timings- 10.00 am- 6.00pm Thurs-Tues; Wednesday and Public Holidays it is closed.
One would associate Byculla with the zoo, Gloria Church and maybe wholesale vegetable market, but who would know that Byculla houses Mumbai's oldest museum- The Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum or City Museum.
At the end of the day, it's safe to say that this is definitely the best museum I have ever visited in India. It is no secret that when it comes to museums, India isn't exactly the hottest destination, but this is a step forward. A person of any age will enjoy the museum, especially an art lover.
At the end of the day, it's safe to say that this is definitely the best museum I have ever visited in India. It is no secret that when it comes to museums, India isn't exactly the hottest destination, but this is a step forward. A person of any age will enjoy the museum, especially an art lover.
HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM
Prince Albert, the spouse of Queen Victoria said the following words"The point of development at which the whole of mankind has arrived...and a new starting point , from which all the nations will be able to derive their further extensions". These words led to the first Great Exhibition of The Works of Industry of all Nations, which was held at the Crystal Palace, London. 6.2 Million people visited this exhibition, where there were 14,000 different exhibitors from all over the World, including India. India had started preparations for contributing to the exhibit in the late 1840. Many exotic products and specimens were shown at the Indian Pavilion of this exhibition. A similar exhibition was to happen in Paris, The Paris Universal Exhibition.This time India retained the duplicates of the specimens and the idea of a museum collection was conceived. In 1857, the specimens were housed at the Victoria and Prince Albert Museum at Byculla; it generated great amount of interest from public but was destroyed in vandalism during the uprising of 1857.
On 1st November, 1975 the museum was renamed Dr Bhau Daji lad museum as he was most persuasive in exhorting contributions from public to restore the museum collection and house it in a new building.
The museum building, an architectural marvel is well restored and painted but the outside garden is not well kept. There is a row of statues, some without heads, some with their noses cut off, and all of them were adorned with beautiful decorations of crow poop. The inside is a whole other matter. There are beautiful artifacts, a huge statue of Prince Alfred in the center and there are splendid and humongous chandeliers hung on the ceilings. The museum attracts decent crowds and offers summer workshops for children. There are events, musical programs, movie-screening and exhibitions happening all around the year. You can check the museum website for more information.
The museum has all sorts of artifacts- Chinese Dragons, Japanese bells , Bronze shields, pottery Indian Gods, musical instruments and a large cannon to name a few. It is an art lovers dream as he will get attached to the brilliant craftsmanship and creativity. There are two, floors-The first one is full of artifacts, while the second one is full of statues and depictions of village life, temples and models of ships. There is a huge armored statue on the second floor. The museum is a storehouse of all sorts of information including the history of Mumbai. Every exhibit has a comprehensive description attached to it and there are also booklets about the artifacts.
GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
This is a very interesting concept which my kids loved. There were 3-4 rooms dedicated to this concept. It had interactive exhibits, inspired from indoor and outdoor sports. For example, there was a table-tennis table in the geographic shape of Mumbai, the boys were thrilled to play TT on that table. There was a game based on Kabbadi, like how in this sport one has to keep repeating the word "kabaddi", except this time you had to say tongue-twisters without taking a breath. There were also many depictions on games people would play in ancient India. This was definitely one of the best section of the museum.
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In India, students have to essentially depend upon books for knowledge; whether it is a student from ICSE, CBSE or state board, the curriculum covered by the school year after year is extensive and laborious. That leaves very little time and energy for museums and science center visits. Also, one would argue that we do not have desirable museums, science centres, art galleries, botanical gardens, zoo etc. in our city and India in general. After visiting this museum and observing my sons, I realised that either we can complain about something not being perfect and harp about its flaws comparing it to the west or make the most of whatever little, not- so- perfect medium of exhibits that we have at our disposal. Even 30% is better than 0! Let us teach the kids to be grateful and appreciate what we have today; honest efforts of men from past should be an inspiration to them to create and maintain places India that sets a new beginning in the world.
Do take your kids!!!
Do take your kids!!!