VISIT TO A MUSEUM….

Recently, I visited a museum in the company of friends. It is housed in a tall impressive stone building surrounded by beautiful lawns along a tree-lined road. There are life-size statues of Lord Buddha near the gate.

We entered. The entry is free. The museum presented a variety of scenes and sights. It is divided into different sections on different floors. In one there are masterpieces of art and craft. In another there are paintings, sculptures, and numerous specimens of pottery. In the third we saw earthenware, vessels tools and toys of prehistoric period. Most of them were from Harappa and Mohanjodara sites. In another section there is an art gallery containing beautiful pictures and portraits, depicting scenes of Mughal life.

In the next section, we were surprised to see the ornaments worn by the women during different periods of ancient Indian history, coins of various dynasties and samples of mottle, carpets and agricultural implements used at different times. In one corner of the museum we saw arms and weapons used by ancient rulers. There are bows, sheaths, clubs, helmets and swords used by warriors of the past. It was interesting to see the great contrast between modern weapon and those used in bygone ages.

At the extreme end of the building we see a collection of shuffled animals, mammals and reptiles that are extinct and models and charts. It struck awe in us going so long back into history.

We spent more than two hours going round the museum. As we came out, we felt that a museum is indeed a storehouse of objects of antiquity, art and craft. It acquaints us with the forgotten varied past of the country.

This is the way we gathered a mine of information ot add to our knowledge of history of the past.

We could now visualize the type of dress our warriors would have put on at the time of Alexander’s invasion of India and its countering or during foreign invasions of India.

The visit to the museum gave us an idea of the splendor of the court of the time of the Mughals from the specimens of decorative material carpets, rugs, chandeliers, shades and lamps and other material well displayed in the museum. The visit also gave us first hand knowledge of flora and fauna and life during the bygone ages.