Museums are an interesting place to visit for many travellers. Whenever one visits any domestic or international destination, museums always top the bucket list. If one is a history lover, he or she can go back to the past eras and revisit them. The only available way to do so is to immediately visit a museum of the city. Museums are important as they collect, conserve and exhibit items of artistic, cultural and scientific significance for the education of the public by throwing light on the significance of the past events, personalities, culture and customs of the respective geographical area. Visiting a museum is always a great idea to have a brush with the past.
Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh is popular for its numerous museums. Recently TripAdvisor revealed the winners of its 2018 Traveler’s Choice Awards for museums that were based on the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for museum worldwide for the past 1 year.
Let us look at the specialty of these museums in Bhopal:
1. Yodhasthal- Amidst the natural beauty lies this beautiful army themed museum. It is an Indian Army dedicated museum to commemorate the lost lives of the soldiers and the war scenarios. There are all sorts of machines and guns which are kept in separate six sections that comprise Preksha Grah, Parichay, Avishkar, Astra Shatra, Alpahar and Swagat Kaksh. This place is a must-visit to explore the finery of the Indian Army and to know about the machines that were used in the wars.
2. Birla Museum- This Museum houses a small but selective display of fine stone sculpture, with explanatory panels in English in the main galleries, most of them are seventh to twelveth century statues. The sculptures show Shiva, Vishnu and Shakti. Especially impressive is the Varaha Avatar in the Vishnu Gallery which has good works showing Lord Vishnu and his avatars while the Devi gallery has various goddesses including a superb Chamunda, finely carved voluptuous apsaras, and fertility figures and the Shiva Gallery contains some beautifully carved reliefs of Uma-Maheshwar on Mount Kailash. It also has a good selection of archaeological finds from excavations.
3. Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya(National Museum of Humankind)- This museum showcase the evolution of man and culture with special emphasis on India. The museum is divided into three permanent exhibitions- open-exhibitions, indoor galleries, and periodical/temporary exhibitions. Other exhibitions are also present like Online exhibitions, travelling exhibitions, Special exhibitions, and Ongoing exhibitions.
4. State Museum of Madhya Pradesh- This museum is of great interest as it contains excellent art pieces and rare antiquities. Altogether, there are seventeen galleries in this building that comprises of a thematic gallery, pre-history and fossils, excavated materials, metal images, inscriptions, sculptures, rare musical instruments and many more.
5. Bhopal’s Tribal Museum- What is the most attractive feature of this museum is its well-planned and themed galleries where every visitor is able to connect through motifs and artefacts that represent the tribal lifestyle. The museum has an unconventional appeal because of the way it celebrates the ways of life practices by seven major tribes in the state through their crafts-Gond, Bhil, Korku, Baiga, Sahariya, Kol and Bhariya. This museum is literally a home that is well preserving the state’s rich art and culture bestowed in various tribes. The folklores, lifestyle, rituals and social customs of all seven indigenous tribes of MP are showcased in the museum through a repository of traditional art.
Conclusion- With such an amazing display of fine arts, army essentials, culture and heritage, Bhopal’s museums are definitely worth the visit.