Tourism
of Goa
Museums
of Goa
State
Archaeology Museum, PanajiThe
State Archaeology Museum was initially located in rented premises at St Inez
in Panaji. It was opened for public on 29th Sept 1977. A new building was
constructed on the outskirts of Panaji at the Patto Plaza, and the museum
was shifted to this new building and inaugurated by the President of India
on 18th June 1996.
At present there are seven galleries in the
museum which are the Sculpture Gallery, the Christian Art Gallery, the
Banerji Art Gallery, the Religious Expression Gallery, the Cultural
Anthropology, the Contemporary Art Gallery and the Western Bronzes Gallery.
The
museum at present has the collection of about 8000 objects, which includes
Stone Sculptures, Wooden objects, Bronzes, Paintings, Manuscripts,
numismatic collection, anthropological objects, clay models etc.
There
are also around 645 objects loaned from Institute Menezes Braganza Art
gallery and the Kala Academy.
Sculpture
Gallery
This gallery has some of the best objects of the
entire collection of the museum.
In the Sculpture Gallery, the
stone sculptures and bronzes of different deities, Hero stones and Sati
stones are displayed. This gallery also includes inscriptions or photographs
thereof dating from the 4th century A.D.
A significant among these
is a copper plate inscription of Viravarma, the Kadamba king, dating back to
1049 A.D. The oldest object in the museum i.e. fossil bone dating 10000 B.C.
is also exhibited here.
Christian Art
Gallery
The gallery exhibits wooden statues of various
Christian Saints and others including Pieta. There are also portraits of
past Portuguese Governors of Goa and Prime Ministers.
It also
includes some rare paintings on wood, metal and canvas, some furniture
pieces like a carved table and chair of the Portuguese Governor General, a
sofa set with ivory inlay work, small ivory idols, chest of drawers and few
chairs of western style.
An interesting item is a flag which was
used to commemorate the Portuguese victory over the Dutch.
Contemporary
Art Gallery
In the Contemporary Art Gallery, paintings and
sculptures of well-known Goan and Indian artists are exhibited. There are
paintings of eminent artists like R. Chimulkar, F. N. Souza, S. H. Raza, M.
F. Hussain, K. H. Ara and many others received on loan from the Kala Academy
and Institute of Menezes Braganza are displayed here.
Western
Bronzes Gallery
In the Western Bronzes Gallery, replicas of
the bronze sculptures of European Artists like Claude, Dalon and others are
displayed.
These bronzes form an important of the museum
collection.
A Museum Week is celebrated every year in the second
week of January, during which various programmes are arranged including
display of new collection. The Museum also arranges other programmes during
the year such as Painting competition, Essay competitions and Quizzes.
Museum
is open from Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
About
Goa