Know Your City: The lesser-known Government Museum in Bengaluru speaks of neoclassical Greco-Roman style
The museum located near the Karnataka High Court has a collection of historical artifacts spanning 3,000 years.
According to Discovering Bengaluru by Meera Iyer, convenor of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, the building was originally designed by none other than Colonel Richard Sankey of the East India Company, with the wing facing the Vishweshwariah museum dating back to the colonial era. The other wing was built in 1962, along the same lines as the original. (Express Photo by Jithendra M) A query on a museum on Kasturba Road to anyone in Bengaluru would invariably lead to the Vishweshwaraiah Industrial Museum, leaving an impression that the nearby twin-winged Government Museum has faded into oblivion.
The Government Museum housed in a much older building in green and red hues is undoubtedly a reflection of colonial architecture. The museum, though smaller than its more modern counterpart, has a compact collection of historical artifacts spanning 3,000 years. It is also a stone’s throw away from the Karnataka High Court at the edge of Cubbon Park.
Further in, the gallery boasts of a large collection of archaeological artifacts, including items from the Indus Valley Civilisation and Arikamedu archeological site. (Express Photo by Jithendra M)
The building itself is bound up in names that are indispensable to the history of Bengaluru. According to Discovering Bengaluru by Meera Iyer, convenor of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, the building was originally designed by none other than Colonel Richard Sankey of the East India Company, with the wing facing the Vishweshwariah museum dating back to the colonial era. The other wing was built in 1962, along the same lines as the original.
The architecture of the building is in the neoclassical Greco-Roman style, like many colonial buildings in the area, featuring Greek-style pillars and windows with Roman gods in the keystones. However, the museum was not originally housed here. It was opened in 1865 by Sir Edward Balfour in the Cantonment Jail. After a stint on Museum Road as well, it made its final home where it stands today. Balfour was also the brain behind the Government Central Museum in Chennai as well as the Vandalur Zoo.
Visitors entering the main gallery of the museum are greeted by a pair of menacing “dwarapalaka” or door guardian sculptures, a mainstay of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain iconography across Southeast Asia. But these are no mere showpieces but examples of Chalukya art, dating back to the 11th century AD. Further in, the gallery boasts of a large collection of archaeological artifacts, including items from the Indus Valley Civilisation and Arikamedu archeological site. Several Karnataka megalithic sites dating back to the 10th century BC are also represented here, part of the distinctive Black and Red ware group of pottery.
A sculpture gallery in the adjoining wing is home to a large collection of Jain, Chola, and Hoysala sculptures, most of which date from the 10th to 12th century AD, but with several examples close to 2,000 years old. (Express Photo by Jithendra M)
The museum is also home to inscriptions of great significance to the history of Karnataka. One of these is the Halmidi inscription, dating back to 450 AD, one of the oldest examples of written Kannada, in the ancient Kadamba script. Another such artifact is the Begur Stone, a “hero stone” that commemorates the death of Nagattara, a military officer of the Ganga dynasty, dating back about a millennium. More modern items are also present in the form of a weapon collection that includes some primitive firearms, as well as several swords and spears.
A sculpture gallery in the adjoining wing is home to a large collection of Jain, Chola, and Hoysala sculptures, most of which date from the 10th to 12th century AD, but with several examples close to 2,000 years old. Some of these are Greco-Buddhist artifacts from Gandhara, which was located in modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. The garden outside the museum also contains a large number of mounted hero stones, sculptures, and inscriptions.
The museum is open from 10 am to 5 pm on all days except Monday. The entry fee is Rs 20 per person, although videography is not allowed within the museum premises. The ticket holders can also visit the adjacent Venkatappa Art Gallery, which is home to the artistic works of K Venkatappa, who was once the court painter to the Wodeyars.
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