Mumbai - Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly Prince of Wales Museum)

One very rainy day recently, A and I took off to check out the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya formerly known as Prince of Wales Museum of Western India which documents the history of India from pre-historic times to modern times. It was originally conceived in 1905 to commemorate the visit of Prince of Wales on 14th August 1905 (he later became George V, King of England and UK and Emperor of India). George Wittet who also designed the Gateway of India was entrusted with the design of the building. The foundation stone was laid by the prince of Wales in 1905 and it was completed in 1915 and used as Children welfare and Military office during the first world war until it was finally inaugurated in 1922.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

Formerly Prince of Wales - one can see his statue in the centre 

The hall as we enter

Spread over an area of 3 acres and lying towards the southern tip of Mumbai (not far from Gateway), it is an imposing building and a Grade 1 Heritage building with a well kept garden before it. We bought tickets for 200 bucks camera and all and went in. Artefacts were placed here and there as we walked the lawns. In the middle of the lawns was a statue which i am assuming is of Prince of Wales. It has two floors and is split into three main parts - Art, Archaeology and Natural History. We checked out the map and then proceeded into the beautiful hall which has a marble medallion from Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh and a lovely Jain sculpture in the middle of the hall. The museum is supposed to contain 50000 artefacts.

Lotus medallion from Amaravati, Guntur

To the left was the Inscription gallery, ancient world gallery and to the right wing were the Indian Sculptures section (Sadashiva of the 12th century, Yaksha of the 2nd century, Harihara of 12th century, Uma Maheshwara of 6th century from Aihole, Mahishashura Mardhini of 6th century from Elephanta caves, Bodhisattva of the 3rd century). The Buddhist and Jain sections contained a Jain game called Gyanabaazi which is a snakes and ladders version based on our good and bad actions - the bottom most are hells, middle are human lives and top are upper lives. There was also one painting which showed all the terrible ways one gets punished in hell.

Gyanabaazi - Jain Snakes and Ladders Game based on karma

Punishments in hell - Jain

On the first floor were the Miniature Paintings section (Mughal Rajasthani, Pahari, Deccani), the Krishna gallery, the Prints gallery, Jewellery, Money gallery, Arms and Armour and Special Exhibitions. The rare manuscripts include Anvar-e Suhalyi, a Persian translation of the Panchatantra probably commissioned by Akbar. Also palm leaf manuscripts with paintings on them. A 17th century Ramayana from Mewar.

Anvar i Suhalyi

Jehangir donating alms at Ajmer

Rama Pattabhishekam

The Art Collections include collections from Sir Purushottam Mavji (1915), Sir Ratan Tata (1921) and Sir Dorab Tata (1933). The museum has artifacts from the Indus Valley times and relics from the Gupta, Maurya, Chalukya, Rashtrakuta and others.

Bhishma explaining to Yudhishtira

Bhima versus Duryodhana

Radha looking at Krishna's painting

The ivory section contains Gupta era artefcats, textiles, jades from the Mughal era, silver, gold and metal ware, European paintings, Chinese and Japanese porcelain, Arms and Armour, Nepali and Tibetan art. There is a finely decorated armour of Akbar dating to 1581 CE - a steel breastplate and a shiled.

Various textiles of India

The Archaeological section contains Sculptures and coins, Indus Valley artifacts, Gupta era Terracotta figures (280-550 CE), Chalukya, Badami and Rashtrakuta era figures.

Egyptian Mummies

European Paintings

The second floor has Miniature sections, the Krishna Gallery, Prints gallery, Jewellery and Money Gallery along with some special exhibitions such as JJ School of Art, Progressive Art Movement and so on.    

      

Armour and Shield

Another view

A good two hours later we stepped out to dark skies but no rain. We did not do the Natural History section and walked around the lawns - near the cafeteria. From the gate I could see Regal and I knew Mondegar Cafe which was where we thought we would have a spot of lunch was a few minutes away. 

Like they say, museum like these can take days if we do them right but owing to a paucity of time we did what we could and got the lay of the land. Perhaps next time we could do more.

That's another one off my list of 100 wonders in India to see. I am inching closer to 50 now I think!