PATNA MUSEUM
AT
PATNA
Patna Museum, also known
as 'Jadu Ghar' in Hindi, is one of well preserved museum in the country which
connect the glorious past with the modern age. Set up in the center of the
city, the museum building houses splendid and large collection of artifacts of
the periods belonging to Mauryan, Gupta, Sunga, Kushan, Mughals and British
era. The museum boasts of few collection which are unmatched elsewhere.
The museum came into
present form in 1917 AD in a architecturally beautiful building, built
specially for it. Sir Edward Gait, Lieutenant Governor of Bihar and Odisha
(1915-1920) was the founder of this museum. His bust stands inside the museum,
near the entrance gate. The museum is
surrounded by a beautiful scenery park. A number of statues, such as of Lord
Hardinge, Viceroy of India dots the campus.
The museum has a
collection of over 45,000 exhibits, out of which only a small percentage of it
are on display due to space constraint. The Relic casket, containing the mortal
remains of Lord Buddha is one of its rare possessions. However the most famous
collection of the museum is 'Didarganj Yakshi', the statue from 3rd Century BC.
A brick sculpture of lord Buddha and stupas, named as Satabdi Smarak is
situated in one of the corner of the museum.
A cafeteria (Sangrahalaya
Vihar) managed by Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation and a souvenir
shop managed by HHEC (Ministry of Textile, GoI) is present in one corner of the
museum. The museum building also houses few government offices like office of
the National Mission for Manuscripts, Govt. of India and Bihar Research
Society. The museum also houses an auditorium, named as Jan Nayak Karpuri
Thakur Auditorium at the back side. It was inaugurated in 2000.
The museum displays many
archaeological things, coins, paintings, instruments, art objects, textiles,
painting, bronze images, sculptures, thankas, terracotta images and many more
things. It has displays the rare paintings during the British rule. The most
prized possession of the museum is the sacred relics of Buddha. You can see all
the things kept there.
Visiting Hour : 10:30 AM - 4:30 PM (Monday Holiday)
Entry fee : Rs 15 (Indian Citizen), Rs. 250 (Foreigner)
Buddha relics gallery
visit : Rs 100 (Indian Citizen), Rs. 500 (Foreigner)
Student group fee : Rs 2
per student on production of identity-card
Lock room fee : Rs 2 per
bag
Auditorium fee : Rs 10,000
Photo clicking fee : If
any one wants to click photos inside the museum, then one has to buy an extra
ticket. Ticket rates are as follow : Rs 20 ( For Mobile camera), Rs 100 (Flash
Camera), Rs 500 (Video Camera), Rs 5,000 (Commercial Recording). If anyone is
found taking photos inside the premise without having proper ticket, then fine
can be imposed by the museum administration.
Guide fee : The Museum
offers guide facility to the desired person/persons based on following criteria
: For 1 person, fee is Rs 25; for 2 to 5 persons, fee is Rs 50; and for 6 to 10
persons, fee is Rs 100
By Air
The flights of Indian
Airlines, Sahara India, Air Deccan and Jet Airways connect Patna with Bombay,
Calcutta, Delhi, Lucknow, Ranchi and many other major cities.
By Train
Patna is connected by rail
to Bombay, Calcutta, Guwahati, Ranchi, Varanasi.
By Bus
All - weather motorable
roads connect Patna with the rest of Bihar. There are also regular inter -
state bus services. Regular direct bus services connect Patna to Calcutta,
Rajgir, Nalanda, Pawapuri, Vaishali, Gaya-Bodhgaya, Ranchi, Raxaul,
Muzzafarpur, Sasaram.
