The Tamasha House on Sydney Road
The Government Museum at Bangalore is South India’s second oldest museum. It houses a variety of archaeological items ranging from coins to Chinese artefacts. Edward G. Balfour, a Scottish surgeon and orientalist in the Madras Army, proposed starting a museum at Bangalore similar to the one he found in Madras in 1851.
The museum started functioning on August 18, 1865, supported by the Chief Commissioner of Mysore, L.B. Bowring. A copy of the formal notification inviting citizens to donate artefacts to the museum, issued in the Mysore Government Gazette on April 17, 1866, can be seen in the Karnataka State Archives in Bangalore.
Initially, the museum functioned in the Cantonment jail building till 1878. Later, authorities decided to construct a new building to house the museum to accommodate its future expansion. In 1877, architect Col. Richard Hieram Sankey, Chief Engineer of Mysore, designed it in neoclassical style with Corinthian columns and porticoes. It was popularly known as the Tamasha House.
The museum comprises two floors with 18 galleries. Most of the artefacts on the ground floor are from Hampi. Their collection includes sculptures from the period of Nolamba, Gandhara and Hoysala.
Artefacts from MohenjoDaro, Vijayanagar and Halebid, neolithic pottery from Chandravalli, weapons from Kodagu, terracotta from Mathura, copper plates, wood carvings and musical instruments are some of their prized possessions.
Some relics are around 5000 years old. The museum houses rare paintings of Tanjore, Deccan and Mysore kingdoms. The museum exhibits some of the earliest Kannada inscriptions like the Halmidi, Begur and Atakur.
The museum stands on Kasturba Road, near Visvesvaraya Industrial And Technological Museum and Venkatappa Art Gallery. It comes under the jurisdiction of the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage, Government of Karnataka. Recently, it completed 158 years.
If you loved reading my article, let me know through your claps and comments. Do you know of any other museums built in neoclassical architecture ?
References :
https://karnatakatourism.org/tour-item/government-museum-bangalore/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venkatappa_Art_Gallery
http://www.navrangindia.in/2022/11/government-museum-building-of-bangalore.html
