National
Museum of Delhi is the largest museum of the capital city of India.
Situated in Janpath, this museum serves as a kind of warehouse of the
information of India's history and culture. A triple storied building,
Delhi National Museum displays collection dating back to as far as five
thousand years. One of the popular attractions of the museum are the
film shows based on the art heritage of India that place on weekdays as
well as on weekends. The ground floor of the museum comprises of a
number of galleries. Each of the galleries houses artifacts related to a particular period of history, ranging from the Paleolithic Age to the Mughal period. One of the major attractions on the ground floor is the sculpture of a Dancing Girl from Mohenjodaro, dating back to 2,500 BC. One of the galleries, Central Asian Gallery, displays Sir Aurel Stein's collection, consisting of banners, sculpture and wall paintings, etc. Recently, a gallery dedicated to jewelry was added on the ground floor of the National Museum of New Delhi.
There is also a library, a musical instruments gallery and a sales counter (for purchasing some of the items) on this floor. On the first floor of the museum is an amazing collection of Indian miniature paintings from different schools like Mughal, Rajasthani, Pahari and so on. Taking you back to the prehistoric age are the simple stone Neolithic Tools (3,000-1,500 BC), displayed on the first floor. Then, there are shell and bone jewelry of the Indus Valley civilization (2,500 BC), excavated from Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
Carved pillars and statues of the Mauryan dynasty, bronzes from South India, stone sculptures, miniature paintings, coins, tribal art, etc are the other items on show here. The second floor of the Delhi National Museum exhibits an array of weapons and costumes of the historical periods. Other collection on this floor includes arts and textiles, pre-Columbian and western art, woodcarvings, anthropology and so on.
