Art museum, archaeology museum in Kerala, India
The
Napier Museum
is an art and natural history
museum
situated in
Thiruvananthapuram
,
India
.
[1]
The Museum is grounds to the
Trivandrum Zoo
, one of the oldest zoological gardens in India. The zoo was established in 1857 over 55 acres (220,000 m
2
) of land.
[2]
It also contains the
Sree Chitra Art Gallery
, a separate art gallery established in 1935.
The set of museums, along with the zoo, are managed by the Department of Museums and Zoos, a branch of the
Department of Cultural Affairs
of Kerala.
History
[
edit
]
A building was constructed in 1857 during the reign of
Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma
,
[3]
and later demolished in 1874 to lay foundation for a new building, during the reign of
Ayilyam Thirunal
.
[4]
The
Governor of Madras
in 1872 appointed
Robert Chisholm
, a consulting architect of the
Madras Government
to design a new museum. In 1880, construction finished and the museum opened to the public, bearing the namesake of its governor,
Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier
.
The
Indo-Saracenic
structure lacks an air conditioning system. Although it has never been an issue due to suitable natural ventilation, an annex built in 2016 was noted for various problems such as mold, insects and corrosion owing to the lack of windows and openings. Since 2017, the annexed museum depot has been under review and is being rebuilt. Furthermore, the Napier Museum itself is being renovated.
[5]
Design
[
edit
]
Some of the building features include a
gothic
roof and
minarets
. The Napier Museum, a landmark of the city, is noted for its unique ornamentation and architectural style, which is influenced by Indian, Chinese, Kerala and Mughal Schools of Architecture.
[6]
The museum has a
bandstand
with concealed speakers and special acoustics. In the old days,
[
when?
]
the band of the
Travancore Nair Brigade
would play there every Friday. Later,
[
when?
]
the police band would play on Saturdays.
[7]
The museum owns a garden which has many varieties of flowers and trees. It also shelters the oldest living rubber tree in Kerala. It was brought there in 1876 from
Ceylon
and planted in the museum grounds by
Visakham Thirunal
.
[8]
[9]
Collection
[
edit
]
The museum houses a rare collection of archaeological and historic artifacts, bronze idols, ancient ornaments, a
temple chariot
and ivory carvings. The Indian epics, the
Mahabharata
and the
Ramayana
are the inspiration for the museum's collection of Javanese shadow-play leather puppets.
[10]
Timings
[
edit
]
Visiting Hours: Open 10.00 ? 16.45 hrs. Closed on Mondays, Wednesday forenoons, 26 January, 15 August, Thiruvonam and Mahanavami.
[11]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Napier Museum"
.
Department of Tourism (Kerala)
.
Archived
from the original on 5 February 2021
. Retrieved
9 July
2021
.
- ^
"???????????????? ????????????? ????? ?????; ??????????? ?????????????? ??????????"
.
ManoramaOnline
(in Malayalam).
Archived
from the original on 10 August 2020
. Retrieved
31 January
2021
.
- ^
"Napier Museum in India , The Napier Museum is an art and natural history museum situated in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. The ..."
www.greatarchaeology.com
.
Archived
from the original on 23 October 2013
. Retrieved
22 October
2013
.
- ^
M, Athira (20 April 2018).
"Room for radio at the Napier Museum"
.
The Hindu
.
ISSN
0971-751X
.
Archived
from the original on 4 February 2021
. Retrieved
31 January
2021
.
- ^
Johanna Runkel; Gabriela Krist; Tanushree Gupta (31 October 2018).
"Collection Care in Napier Museum in Trivandrum, India"
.
International Institute for Conservation
.
Archived
from the original on 10 July 2021
. Retrieved
10 July
2021
.
- ^
"Napier Museum in Thiruvananthapuram"
.
Kerala Tourism
.
Archived
from the original on 5 February 2021
. Retrieved
31 January
2021
.
- ^
M, Athira (20 April 2018).
"Room for radio at the Napier Museum"
.
The Hindu
.
ISSN
0971-751X
.
Archived
from the original on 4 February 2021
. Retrieved
31 January
2021
.
- ^
V.n, Aswin (8 March 2018).
"The capital's grand old rubber tree"
.
The Hindu
.
ISSN
0971-751X
.
Archived
from the original on 14 November 2020
. Retrieved
2 December
2020
.
- ^
"Spotting Kerala's oldest rubber tree is a walk in the park"
.
OnManorama
.
Archived
from the original on 21 April 2023
. Retrieved
2 December
2020
.
- ^
"Napier Museum in Thiruvananthapuram"
.
Kerala Tourism
.
Archived
from the original on 5 February 2021
. Retrieved
31 January
2021
.
- ^
"Napier Museum, Sree Chithra Art Gallery, Museum Compound, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India"
. Keralatourism.org.
Archived
from the original on 22 October 2012
. Retrieved
20 October
2013
.
External links
[
edit
]
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