Government Museum, Egmore – Museum Complex
The Museum complex consisting of six buildings and 46
galleries covers an area of around 16.25 acres (66,000 m²) of land. The objects
displayed in the museum cover a variety of artifacts and objects covering
diverse fields including archeology, numismatics, zoology, natural history,
sculptures, palm-leaf manuscripts and Amravati paintings. It is particularly
rich in archaeological and numismatic collections. It has the largest
collection of Roman antiquities outside Europe.
Among them, the colossal Museum Theatre is one of the most impressive. The National Art Gallery is
also present in the museum premises.
Built in Indo-Saracenic
style, it houses rare works of artists like Raja
Ravi Varma. Some of the edifices in the campus of the museum are
over 1000 years old. Located close to the main museum entrance gates on
Pantheon Road, the museum theatre is a rare specimen of the Italianate style
of architecture, inspired by Classical architecture and developed in 1802
at Britain by John Nash. However, the
theatre was built by the British in
the late 19th century when this style was no longer popular in England.
The structure has a high plinth and is accessed through
a tall flight of stairs. It is primarily a semicircular structure with a
rectangular wing at the rear. The latter wing now houses some of the galleries
of the museum. The main hall is accessed through a verandah with a row of
columns linked by semicircular arches. The walls and columns are embellished
with floral and geometric designs.
The huge main hall was initially designed for staging
theatrical performances. It has around 600 seats and a commodious stage and the
actors' dressing rooms adjoin this stage. During the British era, the theatre
was mainly used for staging English plays preferred by the British elite of the
city. Now, the museum has been using the theatre for its own cultural and
academic programs such as art workshops, lectures and conferences.
It also rents the hall for various cultural
performances, mainly dramas. The hall has witnessed several plays including
those of Shakespeare. Since August 2004, the museum is
also a designated "Manuscript Conservation Centre" (MCC) under
the National Mission for Manuscripts
established in 2003. The museum has taken preventive care of about 19,007
manuscripts and given curative conservation treatment to about 7,402
manuscripts. The museum for children in the complex houses several static
exhibits such as galleries of dolls adorned with costumes of various nations
and civilizations and also exhibits pertaining to science, transportation, and
technology.
An air-conditioned 3D theatre, the first of its kind
facility in a state museum, is also available at the children's museum in the
museum complex. Equipments are provided by the National Council of Science
Museums, Kolkata.
The theatre screen science-oriented films. It screens a 20-minute-long film and
play five shows a day. There are also plans to upgrade the 3D theatre to a 5D
one. The Bronze
Gallery, which stocks artefacts from the 11th to 17th centuries,
is a veritable treasure trove. The Bronze Gallery consists of mainly Shaivite, Vaishnavite
and Buddhist / Jain artefacts. Many sculptures from here find their way to
gallery spaces abroad, for exhibitions.
Notable collections in the Museum are the world famous
South Indian bronzes, Amaravati sculptures, Tanjore (Thanjavur) Armory,
inscriptions on stones and copper plates, the Dowleshwaram hoard of gold coins
of Raja Raja I and Kulotunga I, the Chengam hoard of copper coins, artifacts
from the Megaliths of Adichanallur, the Bruce Foote Collection of prehistoric
stone implements, Roman and other artifacts from the famous site of Arikamedu
(near Pondicherry), the exquisite crystal reliquaries from the Bhattiprolu
Stupa and the enormous skeleton of the whale obtained on shore near Mangalore. The
Government Museum, Chennai, also has a mobile unit that travels across the
State, showcasing some original treasures and some replicas, and a note about
their importance on the cultural scene.
