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Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, is a premier museum of North India having collections of Gandharan sculptures, sculptures from ancient and medieval India, Pahari and Rajasthani miniature paintings. It owes its existence to the partition of India in August, 1947. Prior to the partition, much of the collections of art objects, paintings and sculptures present here were housed in the Central Museum, Lahore, the then capital of Punjab. The museum has one of the largest collection of Gandharan artefacts in the world. After the partition, the division of collections took place on April 10, 1948. Sixty per cent of objects were retained by
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and forty per cent collection fell in the share of
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
. The museum was inaugurated on 6 May 1968 by Dr. M. S. Randhawa, the then Chief Commissioner of Chandigarh.


History

The Government Museum and Art Gallery were built for housing the artefacts received from the Lahore Museum during the partition of India. The building was designed by the Swiss-born French architect, Le Corbusier along with his associate architects namely Manmohan Nath Sharma, Pierre Jeanneret and Shiv Dutt Sharma. The design was completed during 1960-62 and construction took place between 1962 and 1967. It is one of the three museums designed by Le Corbusier, the other two being
Sanskar Kendra Sanskar Kendra is a museum at Ahmedabad, India, designed by the architect Le Corbusier. It is a city museum depicting history, art, culture and architecture of Ahmedabad. Another Patang Kite Museum is there which includes a collection of kites, ...
, in Ahmedabad, and National Museum of Western Art, in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
.


Building

The building is a museum and art gallery which regularly conducts art acquisition programs for expansion. Envisaged as a vehicle for transmission of knowledge in the Second Five Year Plan and the National Education Policy, it serves as a unique cultural and historical resource for the region. Having a significant collection of Gandhara sculptures, Pahari miniature paintings and contemporary Indian art, it is regularly visited by tourists, artists, scholars and students. Researchers, architects and scholars on Le Corbusier and Modernization are also frequent visitors to the building and its surrounding. The ensemble to study its architectural values as it represents the series of museums designed by Le Corbusier. The pivoted entrance, metal-panelled door, fixed furniture, display systems, and exposed concrete sculpturesque gargoyles are symbolic of the prevailing style of Chandigarh's architecture. The mural in the museum reception area executed by one of India's finest contemporary artists, Satish Gujral adds colour to the otherwise stark exposed concrete building. The museum library is a rich repository of books on subjects of art, architecture and the history of art. A special section is dedicated to Dr. M. S. Randhawa, containing archival records of his correspondence on the ''Making of Chandigarh'', available to scholars in a digitized version. The adjacent auditorium serves as a lecture hall for extended activities of the museum such as lectures, film screenings and cultural events. The interior detailing of the auditorium represents the Modernist tradition that was introduced in Chandigarh by Le Corbusier. The building is divided into three levels. The first level is 33,000 sq ft comprising the Deputy Curator's office, museum shop, reception, textile section, child art gallery, exhibition hall, reserve collection stores, conservation laboratory and auditorium. Level 2 is 23,000 sq ft and comprises exhibition space for sections on Gandhara sculpture, Indian miniature paintings, stone and metal sculpture, coins and Indian contemporary art. Level 3 is 6,500 sq ft and has the library, chairman's room, and Gandhara sculptures’ reserve collection store. The museum serves as a means of repository of the cultural history of the region. It is open to public from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 AM to 4:40 PM, and is closed on Monday and national holidays. The entry ticket is 10 and camera ticket is 5. It has free entry for organised school groups and senior citizens. Facilities such as wheelchairs for the physically challenged are also provided. The auditorium is available at low fees for cultural and educational events as it also serves as the exhibition hall for temporary exhibitions for artists.


Collection

The beginning of the collection can be traced to the partition of India in 1947 when 40% of the collection of the Central Museum, Lahore became the share of the country. A significant part of this share was the Gandhara sculptures. The collections received in April 1949 from Pakistan were first housed in Amritsar, then Shimla,
Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...
and were finally shifted to Chandigarh upon the inauguration of the museum in 1968. Over some time, Dr. M. S. Randhawa added Pahari miniature paintings, modern and Indian contemporary art, so that by the time the collection was displayed in the current building designed by Le Corbusier, it was at par with the leading museums of North India. The collection can be divided into the following categories:


Gandhara sculptures

The museum contains 627 Gandharan sculptures, all received from the Lahore museum at the time of partition. The museum has the second largest collection of such artefacts in India, after the Indian Museum in Kolkata. The museum has many different sculptures of Buddha. In some sculptures, Buddha has long, open hair, while in some he has a moustache with curled hair lock. In earlier days the followers of Buddha used to worship symbolic representations of Buddha. These representations included representative footprint of Buddha or a Chakra. Later, when the followers wanted to portray Buddha in human form, they portrayed him in a beautiful Greek god-like form. This can be attributed to the Indo-Greek influence in that era. Artefacts from several of these different eras are presently housed at the museum. The collection also includes sculptures of Buddhist deities such as
Hariti Hārītī ( Sanskrit), also known as , ja, text=鬼子母神, translit=Kishimojin, is both a revered goddess and demon, depending on the Buddhist tradition. She is one of the Twenty-Four Protective Deities of Mahayana Buddhism. In her posit ...
and Panchika, including one standing image of Hariti found from Skarah Dheri, which is inscribed and dated.


Ancient and Medieval Indian Sculptures

The museum has some ancient terracotta heads from Akhnoor in Jammu, Ushkur in Kashmir and also some ancient figurines from Sugh in Haryana. Ancient sculptures from Sanghol in Punjab and from different sites in Haryana are also on display in the museum. Most of the Medieval Indian sculptures of the collection of the museum are from Agroha and nearby Pinjore in Haryana and a few stray sites from Punjab, Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, and two large-sized sculptures from peninsular India, including a large 12th-century sculpture of Jain deity
Padmavati Padmāvatī may refer to: Deities * Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of fortune * Alamelu, or Padmāvatī, a Hindu goddess and consort of Sri Venkateshwara of Tirupati * Manasa, a Hindu serpent goddess * Padmavati (Jainism), a Jain attendant goddess ( ...
.


Metal sculptures

Early and late medieval metal sculptures from Kangra, Nepal, Tibet, and southern India are present at the museum, including both Buddhist and Hindu sculptures.


Miniatures

Miniature Pahari, Rajasthani, Sikh and Mughal paintings are displayed at the museum. The extensive collection of Pahari paintings consists primarily of Kangra paintings, with all other different schools of Pahari paintings also represented.


Manuscripts

18th and 19th century Devanagari, Gurmukhi and Persian manuscripts from Kullu, Kashmir, Rajasthan and Punjab are displayed at the museum.


Textiles

The museum has a textiles section displaying textiles from all over the Indian subcontinent, prominent among them
Chamba rumal The Chamba Rumal or Chamba handkerchief is an embroidered handicraft that was once promoted under the patronage of the former rulers of Chamba kingdom. It is a common item of gift during marriages with detailed patterns in bright and pleasing ...
s from Himachal Pradesh, Kantha of Bengal,
Phulkari Phulkari ( pa, ਫੁਲਕਾਰੀ) refers to the folk embroidery of the Punjab. Although Phulkari means floral work, the designs include not only flowers but also cover motifs and geometrical shapes. The main characteristics of Phulkari embr ...
from Punjab, Thangkas from Tibet and Nepal.


Numismatics

Coins from various eras of Indian history are displayed, including Mauryan, Sunga, Kushan, Gupta, Ghazni, Delhi Sultanate, Mughal, Sikh, British and Princely state coins.


Contemporary Indian Art

A collection of artwork by artists such as Abanindra Nath Tagore, Akbar Padamsee,
Amrita Sher-Gil Amrita Sher-Gil (30 January 1913 – 5 December 1941) was a Hungarian-Indian painter. She has been called "one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century" and a pioneer in modern Indian art. Drawn to painting from an ear ...
,
Bhupen Khakhar Bhupen Khakhar (also spelled Bhupen Khakkar, 10 March 1934 – 8 August 2003) was an Indian artist. He was a member of the Baroda Group and gained international recognition for his work as "India's first 'Pop' artist." Works Khakhar was a sel ...
, Bireswar Sen, FN Souza,
Jamini Roy Jamini Roy (Bengali: যামিনী রায়) (11 April 1887 – 24 April 1972) was an Indian painter. He was honoured by the Government of India the award of Padma Bhushan in 1954. He remains one of the most famous pupils of Abani ...
,
MF Husain Maqbool Fida Husain (17 September 1915 – 9 June 2011) was an Indian artist known for executing bold, vibrantly coloured narrative paintings in a modified Cubist style. He was one of the most celebrated and internationally recognised Ind ...
, Nandalal Bose, Nicholas Roerich, OP Sharma, Raja Ravi Varma, S. G. Thakur Singh, Sobha Singh,
Tyeb Mehta Tyeb Mehta (26 July 1925 – 2 July 2009) was an Indian painter, sculptor and film maker. He was part of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group and the first post-colonial generation of artists in India, like John Wilkins who also broke fre ...
and many others is also present at the museum. There are also graphics and sculptural artworks in the Contemporary art section.


Other Artefacts

Other artefacts, including a Patua scroll from Bengal, specimens of metal Kullu masks, papier-mâché, and folk sculptures from Bastar, Kangra and Kullu etc., are also housed at the museum.


Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum was founded in 1973, and created by Dr. M.S. Randhawa, the first Chief Commissioner of the union territory and renowned Biologist. The museum has four major sections, focusing on earliest human settlements around the area of the city, biological evolution, dinosaurs of the Indian subcontinent, and human evolution.


Architecture Museum

The Architecture Museum located across from the Art Gallery within the complex was set up in 1997. It documents, preserves and showcases rare documents, drawings, sketches and archives about the making of the city of Chandigarh. Many drawings, sketches, and other works of Maciej Nowicki, Albert Mayer, Le Corbusier, Jane Drew, Maxwell Fry and Pierre Jeanneret relating to the city of Chandigarh are preserved and displayed here. Models of the Governor's Palace and Museum of Knowledge, which were designed by Le Corbusier to be part of the Capitol Complex but never built, heritage furniture designed and used by the architects, and early maps of post-partition East Punjab and Chandigarh are also on display.


Other wings of the museum

* National Gallery of Portraits, Sector 17, Chandigarh * International Dolls Museum, Sector 23, Chandigarh


Gallery

File:Bodhisattva Maitreya (Gandhara).jpg, Bodhisattva Maitreya, c. 2nd century AD, Gandhara File:Hariti (Gandhara).jpg, Hariti, c. 2nd century AD, Gandhara File:Buddha(Gandhara).jpg, Buddha, c. 2nd century AD, Gandhara File:Buddha and the other divinities.jpg, Buddha and other divinities, c. 2nd century, Gandhara File:Padmavati Chandigarh Museum.jpg,
Padmavati Padmāvatī may refer to: Deities * Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of fortune * Alamelu, or Padmāvatī, a Hindu goddess and consort of Sri Venkateshwara of Tirupati * Manasa, a Hindu serpent goddess * Padmavati (Jainism), a Jain attendant goddess ( ...
, Chola dynasty, 13th century File:The Great Goddess in Her Chamunda Form.jpg, ''The Great Goddess in Her Chamunda Form''. Mughal miniature, possibly from a scroll of the '' Devi Mahatmya'', c. 1565-1575 File:Saptarishi. The Seven Sages.jpg, Saptarishi. Pahari painting from a Bandralta-
Mankot Mankot is a Village situated in Bageshwar district in the States and territories of India, State of Uttarakhand, India. It is located at a distance of from Bageshwar on the National Highway 309A (India), National Highway 309A. Mankot is a mediu ...
workshop, c. 1700 File:Raja Sidh Sen of Mandi - An Informal Portrait.jpg, Raja Sidh Sen of
Mandi Mandi may refer to: Places * Mandı, Azerbaijan India * Mandi, Jammu and Kashmir, a town on the Mandi River in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir * Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, a city in Himachal Pradesh ** Mandi State, former princely s ...
- An Informal Portrait. Mandi workshop, possibly by Khinnu, c. 1700 File:Hiranyaksha use maya on varaha by manaku from Bhagavata purana series.jpg, ''Vishnu as Varaha challenges the demon Hiranyaksha'' by Manaku of Guler, from '' Bhagavata Purana'' series, c. 1740 File:Parashurama leads Krishna and Balarama toward Mount Gomanta.jpg, ''
Parashurama Parashurama (), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Veerarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. He is believed to be one of the ''Chiranjeevis'' (Immortals), who will app ...
leads Krishna and Balarama toward Mount Gomanta'', from a '' Harivamsa'' series ascribed to Purkhu of Kangra, c. 1800-1815 File:The Musical Mode - Ragini Todi.jpg, The Musical Mode: '' Ragini Todi''. Ascribed to a Master of the Second Generation after Nainsukh, c. 1825-30


References


External links


Official website
{{authority control Museums in Chandigarh Art museums and galleries in India Art museums established in 1947 Buildings and structures in Chandigarh 1947 establishments in India History museums in India Le Corbusier buildings in India State museums in India Art galleries established in 1947 History of Chandigarh Buildings and structures completed in 1967 1967 establishments in Chandigarh