Treasures- Allahabad Museum Allahabad

About the Book This volume highlights the treasures of the Allahabad Museum, which has a rich and diversified collection of art, antiquities, firmans, paintings, sculptures, coins, ceramics, archaeological objects, illustrated manuscripts, decorative art objects, arm and amours, textiles, natural history specimen, photographs, prints and personally collections.

The artifacts are displayed in sixteen different galleries including an exhibition in the Memorial Hall, in the memory of A.K. Coomaraswamy, and also in the Central Hall.

The collection allows Indian visitors to feel a sense of pride in their ancient culture and identity and enable visitors from other countries to appreciate India's culture and its values.

The National Culture Fund (NCF) was established by the Ministry of Culture in 1996 and is a Trust under the Charitable Endowments Act of 1890. It is governed by a Council with the Humble Minister for Culture as its chairperson and managed by an Executive Committee chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Culture, and Government of India.

The primary mandate of the NCF is to nurture Public Private Partnerships (PPP), to mobilize resources from the public and private sector for the restoration, conservation, protection and development of India's rich, natural, tangible and intangible heritage.

The NCF believes that two of the vital pillars of national development are the promotion of cultural diversity and heritage conservation.

Introduction The Allahabad Museum centrally located in the Civil Lines area of the city, in a lush green thickly forested historic park called Chandrasekhar Azad Park. It is about km from the Allahabad Junction Railway Station, almost equidistant from Prayag and Rambagh railway stations and about 12 km from Bamrauli Airport.

In 1863, the Board of Revenue requested the Government of North-Western Provinces for the establishment of public library and a museum. With donations from the provincial government, the famous Orientalist. Sir William Muir, and the Maharaja of Vijaynagaram, an ornate building was inaugurated in 1878 to house the collection, and superintendent of library and museum was appointed for its upkeep.

For unforeseen reasons the Museum closed down in 1881. The initiative to reopen the Museum was taken by Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, who was the president of the Allahabad Municipal Board from 1923-24. Under the operational direction of Pt Brij Mohan Vyas, the then executive officer of the board, the Museum was opened in the Municipal Building in 1931. Under his guidance, the Museum acquired important collections, including ancient sculptures from Bharhut (Satna district of Madhya Pradesh) and Bhumra (Madhya Pradesh).

In 1942, S.C. Kala, the first curator, gave the much needed impetus to enriching the collection of the Museum, especially by adding the Nehru personally collection and the Bengal School Paintings. As space became a constraint, it was decided that the Museum should be shifted from the Municipal Board building to the present building at the Company Bagh or Chandrasekhar Azad Park. The foundation stone of the present museum building, which was then known as Prayag Sangrahalaya. was laid on 14 December 1947 by Pt Nehru and the Museum was opened to the public in 1954.

The real turning point of the fate of the Museum, however, came in the year 1986. Realizing the significance of the diversity of its archaeological artifacts, the Museum was taken over by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, after constituting an autonomous body called Allahabad Museum Society, and it was declared a museum of national importance. At present, the Museum is under the financial control of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and the ex-officio is Governor of Uttar Pradesh.

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