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State Archaeology Museum, Panaji
The 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.
Banerji Art Gallery
 Shri
S. K. Banerji, an Ex-Governor of Goa, has donated a very rich
collection to the Goa State Museum. This collection is housed
in this gallery named after him.
It includes terracota objects of Indus Valley
Civilization, seals of Janapadas, stone sculptures of Gandhara
school of Art, South Indian bronzes, wooden sculptures of
South East Asia and Dhokra ware.
In addition to this Rajasthani miniature
paintings of Jaipur School, Marwar school, Mewar school etc.,
paintings of Mughal style, Nathdwara and patachitras of Orissa
and few contemporary paintings are also displayed here.
Religious Expression Gallery
 An
ancient image of Lord Vishnu from the Gupta period is one
of the most striking and valuable possessions kept in the
Religious Expression gallery.
This gallery reflects the varied and multi-cultural
religious expressions of Goa over the years. It includes a
model of "Tarang", traditional musical instruments,
worship utensils, palm-leaf manuscripts and paper manuscripts
of different religious texts and also few old photographs
of various religious ceremonies and festivals.
 Cultural
Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology gallery displays the
objects related to cultural anthropology such as household
utensils, different games, weights and measures. It also exhibits
a model of a sugarcane crusher, crane and agricultural implements.
The most remarkable are the clay models showing different
professions.
 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.
Contact :
Shri. Laxman K.
Pitre
Director of Museum
Goa State Museum
EDC Complex,
Pato, Panaji, Goa - 403001
Phone : 2438006
Email : museum@goatelecom.com
See Also Other Museums:
| Christian
Art Museum | State
Archaeology Museum | Pilar
Museum |
| Naval Museum
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