National Museum, New Delhi
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TREASURES The National Culture Fund (NCF) was The Treasures series brings to you objects of great aesthetic quality and National Museum This volume highlights the treasures of established by the Ministry of Culture in historic significance from collections of major Indian museums. Each the National Museum—New Delhi. 1996 and is a Trust under the Charitable book has an introduction to the particular museum, set in broad thematic NEW DELHI The museum has over 2,10,000 works Endowments Act of 1890. It is governed sections. Several significant treasures have been selected and presented of art representing 5,000 years of Indian by a Council with the Hon’ble Minister with an introduction by the Director and staff of the museum. art and craftsmanship. The collection for Culture as its chairperson and includes sculptures in stone, bronze, managed by an Executive Committee This Treasures series is an initiative of the Ministry of Culture, terracotta and wood, miniature paintings chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Government of India, in collaboration with major Indian museums, and manuscripts, coins, arms and armour, Culture, Government of India. and the National Culture Fund (NCF) has been entrusted with the Museum National jewellery and anthropological objects. Antiquities from Central Asia and pre- The primary mandate of the NCF responsibility for its production. Columbian artefacts form the two non- is to nurture Public Private Partnerships Indian collections in the museum. The (PPP), to mobilise resources from The aim of the Treasures series is to create a lasting interest in Indian museum is the custodian of this treasure the public and private sector for the art and inspire more visitors to enjoy the wonders of India’s great trove of our multilayered history and restoration, conservation, protection cultural legacy. multicultural heritage. and development of India’s rich, natural, tangible and intangible heritage. The collection allows Indian visitors to feel a sense of pride in their ancient The NCF believes that two of the culture and identity and enable visitors vital pillars of national development are from other countries to appreciate India’s the promotion of cultural diversity and culture and its values. heritage conservation. NEW DELHI ISBN: 978-93-83098-80-4 TREASURES Cover Image: Pasupati Seal NATIONAL CULTURE FUND www.niyogibooksindia.com TREASURES National Museum TREASURES National Museum NEW DELHI NATIONAL CULTURE FUND Produced in collaboration with National Culture Fund, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India 2nd Floor, New Admn Wing, NGMA, Jaipur House, New Delhi-110003 Jointly published and marketed by D-78, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I New Delhi-110 020, INDIA Tel: 91-11-26816301, 49327000 Fax: 91-11-26810483, 26813830 email: [email protected] website: www.niyogibooksindia.com Copyright for text and photographs © 2013 National Museum, Delhi Series Editor: Malavika Singh Editor: Pramila Phatarphekar Design: Hajra A. Ahmed NCF Coordination Team: Dr Shobita Punja, Joyoti Roy and Nidhi Madura ISBN: 978-93-83098-80-4 Publication: 2015 All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without prior written permission and consent of the Publisher. Printed at: Niyogi Offset Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India MESSAGE National treasures are unique cultural assets that are symbols of a civilisation, its history and its people. Treasures, of Indian Museums, is a series that reflects the aesthetic sensibility of Indian artists and their patrons, through the ages. Indian art is rooted in different philosophies. This series of museum publication aims to share this extraordinary repository with the world. ‘Treasures’ are objects of great aesthetic quality and historic value. In some instances an object is considered a ‘treasure’ in a particular museum if it is one-of- its-kind in the collection, offers an insight into Indian history or through association the object is linked to a historic personality. There are also treasures that exemplify craftsmanship in a particular medium or style of a given historic period. Each book has an introduction to the particular museum. Set in broad thematic sections, several significant treasures have been selected by the Director and staff of the specific museum. The museum staff has provided information on the date, provenance, as well as a brief introduction to each object. The selected ‘masterpiece’ is represented by a photograph from which an interesting detail has been highlighted, to enable readers to fully appreciate its finer aesthetic details and understand its visual message. This series was initiated by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India under the Museum Reforms programme. The Ministry of Culture entrusted the responsibility of the production of this series with the National Culture Fund, New Delhi. We hope that this series will initiate a lasting interest in Indian art and inspire more people, especially the younger generation, to come to Indian museums and share in India’s great cultural legacy and her rich cultural heritage. Shripad Naik National Museum, New Delhi 8 National Museum, Delhi INTRODUCTION TO NATIONAL MUSEUM The National Museum is located in the heart of New Delhi, the capital of India. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, former Prime Minister of India, laid the foundation of the present building, on the 12 May 1955, and the first phase was completed by June 1960. The conception, however, goes back to the year 1946, when the blueprint for establishing a National Museum in Delhi was prepared by the Gwyer Committee, set up by the Government of India. From 29 November 1947 to 29 February 1948, a seminal exhibition titled ‘Exhibition of Indian Art’ was held in Burlington House, London. The exhibition displayed selected artefacts from various museums of India and was sponsored by the Royal Academy (London) with the cooperation of the governments of India and Britain. The collection exhibited at Burlington House was later showcased in the staterooms of the Rashtrapati Bhawan (President’s House), New Delhi from 6 November to 31 December 1948. This initiative turned out to be a great success and the event became the first step towards the creation of the National Museum. On 15 August 1949, the Governor General of India, Shri R.C. Rajagopalachari, formally inaugurated the National Museum. Until a permanent building for the National Museum was constructed, it continued its activities from Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi. Meanwhile, the success of the ‘Exhibition of Indian Art’ and the magnificence of the collection made it amply evident that it could form the foundation of the upcoming National Museum. Thus, state governments, museum authorities and private donors who participated in the exhibition were approached and the exhibits on show formed the core holdings of the National Museum. National Museum was initially looked after by the Director General of Archaeology until the year 1957, when the Ministry of Education, Government of India, declared it a separate institution and placed it under its own direct control. At present the administration and financial control of the National Museum is under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Today the Museum holds approximately 2,00,000 objects representative of Indian and world history. The objects cover a time span of more than 5,000 National Museum, Delhi 9 years of Indian cultural heritage. The museum has several collections related to specialised fields. THE COLLECTION The National Museum has the world’s most representative collection of antiquities of the Harappan Civilisation––over 3500 objects that are on ‘permanent loan’ from the Archaeological Survey of India to the Museum. The collection contains objects from famous sites of Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Chanhudaro. The urban Harappan Civilisation left behind valuable historic information in their painted earthen vessels, bronze items and seals. The bronze ‘Dancing Girl’ recovered from Mohenjo-Daro, and the toy animals are evidence of this creative, sensitive and distinctive culture that existed over 5,000 years ago. The Department of Archaeology is among the National Museum’s most prestigious departments with a collection that has a wide range of masterpieces of sculptural art in a variety of medium: stone, terracotta, stucco, bronze, gold, silver, etc., spanning a period of over two millenniums, from the 3rd century BC to the Buddhist Gallery, National Museum 10 National Museum, Delhi 19th century AD––one of the longest in the history of world’s art-heritage. There are galleries dedicated to Buddhist art, representatives from different regions, styles and schools of art of India. Worthy of being the part of the nation’s leading heritage custodians, the National Museum’s collection of manuscripts is simply fabulous not merely in its volume but also in its massive breadth. It comprises over 14,000 manuscripts and texts, of which about 1000 are illustrated. Dated manuscripts, of which the collection has a good number, are of academic importance to authenticate events of history. The collection covers a period of 1400 years, from the 7th century to the 20th, and is in different medium, language, subject, and are written on parchment, birch bark, palm leaf, paper, cloth, wood, and metals. Besides the classical Sanskrit or sacred dialects like Pali, Prakrit, or Apabhransha, or trans-border languages like Persian, Arabic, Chinese, Burmese or Tibetan, the collection has manuscripts rendered in Hindi, its many dialectic forms: Rajasthani, Maithali, Oriya, Bengali, Awadhi, Brij, Marathi, Bundeli, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gurumukhi…; using scripts like Brahmi, Devanagari, Nastaliq, Roman, Gurumukh and others. The manuscripts are Kushana Gallery, National Museum National Museum, Delhi 11 therefore a critical and important source of historic information, literature, from the point of view of secular and sectarian, aesthetic and scientific inquiry. Miniature paintings, on paper, cloth, bark, wood and ivory, forms one of the National Museum’s most prestigious collections, and the world’s largest.