The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

is run by the Sulabh International, dedicated to the global history of sanitation and

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human urine and feces, and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting position popu ...

s. According to ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine, the museum is one of the weirdest museums among the "10 museums around the world that are anything but mundane". It was established in 1992 by Dr.

Bindeshwar Pathak Bindeshwar Pathak is an Indian sociologist and social entrepreneur. He is the founder of Sulabh International, an India-based social service organisation which works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources ...

, a social activist, founder of Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement, recipient of national and international awards including the

Stockholm Water Prize Presented annually since 1991, the Stockholm Water Prize is an award that recognizes outstanding achievements in water related activities. Over the past three decades, Stockholm Water Prize Laureates have come from across the world and represente ...

in 2009. His objective in establishing this museum was to highlight the need to address the problems of the sanitation sector in the country, considering the efforts made in various parts of the world in this field since the third millennium BC.

Features

Established in 1992, the museum has exhibits from 50 countries. Sanitation artifacts, spanning from 3000 BC through the end of the 20th Century, are arranged chronologically: "Ancient, Medieval and Modern." The museum's exhibits bring out the development of toilet-related technology of the entire gamut of human history. Over time, they highlight social habits, etiquette specific to the existing sanitary situation, and the legal framework thereof. The items on display include privies,

chamber pot A chamber pot is a portable toilet, meant for nocturnal use in the bedroom. It was common in many cultures before the advent of indoor plumbing and flushing toilets. Names and etymology "Chamber" is an older term for bedroom. The chamber pot ...

s, decorated Victorian toilet seats, toilet furniture,

bidet A bidet ( or ) is a bowl or receptacle designed to be sat on in order to wash one's genitalia, perineum, inner buttocks, and anus. The modern variety has a plumbed-in water supply and a drainage opening, and is thus a plumbing fixture subjec ...

s and

water closet A flush toilet (also known as a flushing toilet, water closet (WC) – see also Toilet#Names, toilet names) is a toilet that disposes of human waste (principally urine and feces) by using the force of water to ''flush'' it through a drainpipe to ...

s in vogue since from 1145 AD to the present. Display boards have poetry related to toilet and its use. Some of the interesting and amusing objects and information charts on display are: a reproduction of a commode in the form of treasure chest of the British medieval period; a reproduction of the supposed toilet of King Louis XIV which is reported to have been used by the king to defecate while holding court; a toilet camouflaged in the form of a bookcase; information on the technology transfer from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

to convert

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excreted from the body through the urethra. Cellular ...

into potable water, a deal of $19 million; display boards with comics, jokes and cartoons related to humour on toilets; toilet pots made of gold and silver used by the Roman emperors; information about flush pot designed in 1596 by Sir John Harington during Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

's regime; the sewerage system that existed during the

Harappan Civilization Harappa (; Urdu/ pnb, ) is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal. The Bronze Age Harappan civilisation, now more often called the Indus Valley Civilisation, is named after the site, which takes its name from a mod ...

; and historical information from the

Lothal Lothal () was one of the southernmost sites of the ancient Indus Valley civilisation, located in the Bhāl region of the modern state of Gujarāt. Construction of the city is believed to have begun around 2200 BCE. Archaeological Survey of ...

archeological site on the development of toilets during the Indus Valley civilization.

References

{{coord, 28.5966, 77.0808, display=title New Delhi Museums in Delhi 1992 establishments in Delhi Sanitation Toilets Museums established in 1992