Museums in Rajasthan

Rajasthan is a state of the Royals in true sense and there are number of historical evidences left in the various cities of Rajasthan. There are many museums to visit in Rajasthan showcasing artifacts, weapons, garments, jewelry and goods of one-time rulers of the state. You can also explore some ancient handicrafts in many museums of the state. When you will travel in Rajasthan you will find that the complete scenery of the state is dotted with many forts, palaces, castles, temples, havelis and monuments.
Many of palaces of the state have now been converted in to heritage hotels and museums. Many tourists embark on palace tour of Rajasthan and stay at heritage palace hotel and spend their vacation in luxury. The city is among the most famous tourist destinations in the India. Many Forts have their own museums which showcases the historical collections of Kings and Maharajas of those times. Forts like Amer Fort, Kumbhalgarh Fort, Mehrangarh Fort, Jaislamer Fot have museums inside the fort which are very famous among tourists. Some Famous museums in Rajasthan Includes Albert Museum, Dolls Museum, Crystal Gallery, Ahar Museum, Folklore Museum, Jodhpur Government Museum and many others.

Ahar Archaeological Museum
Ahar Archaeological Museum is known for its various architectural features and sculptures pieces date back to 1700 BC. A historic tenth century metal figure of Buddha is a special attraction in the museum. There are rare pieces of earthen pots which are of historical importance.Located at 3 km distance from Udaipur city, around Ahar museum there are about nineteen cenotaphs of Maharanas, where they were cremated. Among all of them cenotaph of Maharana Amar Singh, who reigned from 1597 to 1620 is more attractive. Though there are not so much to see ion the museum but the collection of the museum is very rare of which some dates back to centuries old and before that. Amongst the assortment of sculptures, a statue of Vishnu-Nag-Nathan is also worth mentioning.

Ajmer Government Museum
Ajmer Government Museum also known as 'Magazine', is situated inside the historical 16th century Akbar’s fort in Ajmer. In October 1908, under the initiative of Lord Curzon and Sir John Marshall, it was established by Central British Administration as provincial museum of Rajputana. Pandit Gauri Shankar Hirachand Ojha was the first Superintendent of the museum. It's established with the purpose of to focus on the cultural heritage of the region and exhibits it. Ajmer Government Museum has precious Sculptures, inscriptions, pre-historic section, miniature paintings, arms and armor and objects of art and crafts.Out of all the sections of the museum, Sculptures section is very much alluring.
Many ancient, rare and unique pieces are there which have been acquired from famous locations like Pushkar, Adhai-din-ka-jhonpra, Baghera, Pisangan, Harsnath (Sikar) Bharatpur, Sirohi, Arthuna and Osian.Museum epigraphs attracts scholar’s from all over the world as they were collected from different parts of Rajasthan.

Albert Hall Museum
Albert Hall Museum, also known as Government Central Museum is situated in Ram Niwas Garden, Jaipur. In this beautiful garden, there is also a zoo which adds to its attractiveness. Oldest among all the museums in the state, about 131 years, it comprises a unsurpassed and unique collection Rajasthan Miniature Paintings, Traditional Royal Costumes, Woodwork And Sculptures.Some says that it was intended as a town hall, but converted to the oldest museum of Jaipur. Being a gateway from where a series of heritage walks in this city, now it becomes a venue for most of the cultural Albert Hall Museum foundation started from the construction of Albert Hall . It was based on Victoria and founded by Albert in 1876. Its attractive designed is done by Colonel Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob. It was opened in 1887 as a public museum.

Alwar Government Museum
Alwar Government Museum is known to be the multi purpose museum with a magnificent collection of arts and articrafts which provide a look into the fabulous and historical cultural heritage of Rajasthan. It was established by then ruler in the year 1940. It is situated in the Vinay Vilas Mahal in the City Palace of Alwar. Visitors from all over the world attracts towards its valuable collections of 234 sculptures, 11 inscriptions, 9702 coins, 35 metal objects, 2565 paintings & manuscripts, 2270 arms & weapons and 1809 objects of local art, crafts and musical instruments.
This museum is famous for exceptional collections of ivory and lacquered work, musical instruments, stuffed animals, Bidri work, pottery and beautiful brass works from Multan, Bengal, Jaipur and Ceylon, Sanskrit, Persian manuscripts and miniature paintings.

Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing
Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing located in the ancient pink 'Chanwar Palkiwalon ki Haveli' also known as Anokhi Haveli. Anokhi Museum of hand printing is the foundation which is charitable and works with a core objective of preserving the traditional customs and works of artisans of Jaipur. This foundation takes cares of the talent and skills of the artisans and provides a good employment opportunities. Anokhi museum of hand printing also works on reviving the age old tradition of hand book printing which also includes traditional hand printing methods and techniques. This foundation also provides live demonstrations of the hand block printing carried by the local artisans.
Opened in 2005, Anokhi museum of hand printing also has a mini auditorium which runs slides show and documentries on printing and dyeing daily.

Bharatpur Government Museum
Bharatpur Government Museum consists a very precious collection of archaeological wealth of the nearby place. Some of the things also comes from old Bharatpur State.Actually it is the huge palatial building Kachahari kalan. It is converted from administrative block of the rulers of Bharatpur state to a Museum in 1944 AD. It is located in the heart of Lohargarh fort. The Kamra Khas (personal chamber) building on the first floor was added to the museum.

Birla Planetarium Jaipur
Birla Planetarium is one of the best lookout spots in Jaipur, especially for the students and tourists having an interest in science and astrology. Being a part of Birla Institute of Scientific Research, it conducts many sky shows and audio-visual educational programs every day. Among the main activities, Birla Planetarium has designed different astronomical projects and conducts many seminars on celestial mechanics, space science, astrophysics and also about the history of astronomy, famous astronomers, stars, planets. It also train youngs about night sky mysteries, the evolution of earth and universe, planets and their details. B.M.Birla Planetarium also organizes educational interactive sessions and live sessions for the students to help in their science education.

City Palace Museum Udaipur
City Palace Museum Udaipur has an entrance gate 'Ganesh Deori' which means 'Door of Lord Ganesha'. After passing the door, there you will reach the historic courtyard where a sage asked Maharana Udai Singh to construct a city. This courtyard is known as Rajya Angan or The Royal Courtyard. There is an armory museum next to courtyard which has a ultimate collection of war protection wearables and war weapons. Visitors fascinates by watching the fatal two pronged sword. It also in-houses the armor used by the brave and chivalrous Maharana Pratap. Rana Sanga drums and bugles are must see in the armor museum.
Age old antique paintings of Mewar and priceless Rajasthani art one also see in the city palace museum. Coins, sculptures, inscriptions, portraits and wall-paintings are some major antiques which attracts visitors. ‘Turban of Khurram’ is also on display in the museum who is also famous as Emperor Shah Jahan. He and Maharana Khazan Singh were great friends. City Palace museum has seven pavillions and halls. Each pavilion has a different theme.City Palace Museum is located in the city palace complex of Udaipur.

City Palace Museum Jaipur
City Palace Museum also called as Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum is the house of rare and exquisite scriptures of Hindu from the primitive period of India. This museum comes under City Palace of Jaipur. It is located in Diwan-I-Aam which is an inbuilt public hall of the palace. Most of the scriptures in the museum were written by hands.Out of all scriptures , the miniature Bhagwat Gita is the most significant one. It has the speciality that it was written in a way to protect this legacy from the onslaught of Mughal king Aurangzeb on holy religious scriptures.

Ganga Golden Jubilee Museum
Ganga Golden Jubilee Museum is known to be as the best museum of Rajasthan state. Also known as Ganga Government Museum, it is located in the city of Bikaner, Rajasthan. Ganga Golden Jubilee Museum was established in 1937 on the occasion of Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Maharaja Ganga Singh. The museum comprises some of the most unique and amazing collections of artwork, history and sculptures.
The magnificent museum is in the Lalgarh palace of Bikaner. There are sections in the museum in a way that all the articrafts follow a hierarchy and historical importance. There is the Silk Robe of Shehjada Salim which is quite fabulous to see. There are also some other unique collection of miniatures from across the state.

Jaipur Wax Museum
Jaipur Wax Museum at Nahargarh Fort, a new feather added in the crown of Department of Archaeology & Museums The Nahargarh Fort, is the city’s defense fortress built at the highest point of the Aravallis, is an 18th century Indian-European architectural marvel that still stands strong and gives panoramic views of the city of Jaipur. The Jaipur Wax Museum is immortalized at this iconic Nahargarh Fort in the association with the Department of Archaeology & Museums, Government of Rajasthan. The Museum showcases wax and silicon statues of the personalities who have not only given the best to their own fields but also have been iconic for the society.The unique feature of the statues is the liveliness of the sculpted image. A background has been given to each statue to support and compliment to its celebrated history. This feature has made it one-of-its-kinds Museum and this enhances the wax figure and makes it feel larger than life.
The museum is the brain child of Mr. Anoop Srivastava of Entertainment 7 Ventures Pvt. Ltd. who laid the intellectual foundation for this project with the Pink City Film Festival in 2006. A lifelike wax sculpture of the legendary Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan was unveiled at this event. Encouraged by the response and armed with the dream of creating a one-of-its-kind museum, Mr. Srivastava teamed with several other like-minded people including sculptor Susanta Ray. A skilled team of technicians, designers etc. restored the fort and the interiors were adapted to create an attraction that would add yet another crown jewel to Rajasthan Tourism. Several days of ingenious restoration, 32 wax exhibits – each installed with a unique set and a skillfully polished fortress later, the museum is here to enthrall its visitors.

Jaisalmer Folklore Museum
Jaisalmer Folklore Museum is located on the pristine banks of Gadi Sagar and founded in 1984 by N K Sharma. It is situated near the Tilon-ki-Pol gateway and the Desert Culture Centre. Jaisalmer Folklore Museum displays diverse culture and heritage of Jaisalmer. Its articrafts tells the story of evolution of Jaisalmer city.This museum has six sections and each section has fablous collection of rare folklore items of paintings, jewelries, photographs, hairstyles and costumes. Many other displays in the Jaisalmer folklore museum depicts the lives of Jaisalmer people.

Jawahar Kala Kendra
Jawahar Kala Kendra called JKK in short, is known as a multi arts centre. It is situated in beautiful city of Jaipur. Rajasthan government build it with an aim of preserving Rajasthani arts and crafts. Jawahar Kala Kendra or JKK has been divided into eight blocks housing museums and one amphi theatre. Other facilities are also there in JKK which includes closed auditorium, library, arts display rooms, cafeteria, small hostel and art-studio. With two beautiful permanent art galleries and three other galleries, it hosts its own theater festival every year.
In Jawahar Kala Kendra, there is always something cultural and innovative happens like drama festivals, music performances, art exhibitions, craft fairs, workshops, discussions and seminars or films and film screenings. This multi arts centre caters all the needs of the artists and make them to perform full to there potential.

Jodhpur Government Museum
Jodhpur Government Museum was established in 1909 and named after Maharaja Sardar Singh of Jodhpur. It was formally opened to public on 17 March, 1936. It is located in Public Park (Ummed Bagh) of Jodhpur. During the time of Maharaja Umaid Singhji, museum building and the garden were developed. This museum comprises wide collection of weapons, textiles, miniature portraits and local arts and crafts. The portraits of rulers and the manuscripts and images of Jain Tirthankars are also displays in the museum.
Jodhpur Government Museum has fabulous collections of unique items such as 397 stone sculptures, 10 inscriptions, 1951 miniature paintings, 12 terracotta, 32 metallic objects, 178 arms, 111703.5 coins, 4107 miscellaneous objects displayed in Archaeological Section, armory, art & craft and historical section. Umaid garden adds beauty to this museum with a public library and a zoo.