The Jawaharlal Nehru State Museum (or simply Jawaharlal Nehru Museum) is the state museum of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

, in

Itanagar Itanagar () is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The seat of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, the seat of government of Arunachal Pradesh, and the seat of Gauhati High Court permanent bench at Naharlag ...

. Established in the 1980s, it showcases aspects of tribal life of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. These include clothing, headdress, weapons, handicraft, music instruments, jewellery and other artifacts of daily use and culture, besides archeological finds. Over the years, the museum has become an important tourist destination in the state capital.

Collection and activities

The ground floor of the museum houses an extensive

ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

collection, including traditional art, musical instruments, religious objects, and handicrafts, like wood carving and cane products, while the first floor has archaeological objects found in

Ita Fort The Ita Fort is an historical site in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Its name is "Fort of Bricks" in Assamese. It also lends its name to the city Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh. The Ita Fort is generally assumed to have been bu ...

, Noksparbat and Malinithan in

West Siang district West Siang (Pron:/ˈsjæŋ or ˈsɪæŋ/) is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. History In 1989, territory was given from West Siang to the East Siang district. Since 1999, this territory has been in the new ...

. Apart from its collection, the museum runs a workshop for traditional

cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking *Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance *White cane, a mobility or safety device used by many people who are b ...

products at its Handicrafts Centre. The museum shop sells tribal handicrafts. In 2011, Tapi Mra, the first person from the state to scale

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

, donated his entire expedition gear to the museum.

References

Buildings and structures in Arunachal Pradesh Local museums in India Itanagar Culture of Arunachal Pradesh Folk art museums and galleries in India Ethnic museums in India Tourist attractions in Arunachal Pradesh Monuments and memorials to Jawaharlal Nehru State museums in India 1980s establishments in Arunachal Pradesh Museums established in the 1980s Museums with year of establishment missing {{ArunachalPradesh-stub