My Visit to Government Museum in Chennai (Post No.6678)

WRITTEN by London Swaminathan

swami_48@yahoo.com

Date: 25 JULY 2019

British Summer Time uploaded in London – 13-10

Post No. 6678

Pictures are taken by London swaminathan ((posted by swamiindology.blogspot.com AND tamilandvedas.com))

I have made over 60 trips to India during my 31 year stay in London. Every time I go to India I write ‘Visit to Madras Museum’ in my Work to do List. But it took 30 long years to fulfil my dream. At last, I went to the Government Museum in Chennai on Sunday the 7^th July 2019. It was possible because my wife went for shopping! I ‘escaped’ with my credit card to the museum and spent over 4 hours. I paid Rs.15 for entrance and Rs.200 for photography. But I didn’t use my camera. All the pictures were taken with my Samsung mobile phone and I pad.

The bronze gallery must be worth billions of dollars with beautiful idols. All items have name tags and their provenance. Scores of Natarajas, Devis, Chandikeswras , Saivite saints and Vishnu idols are displayed. I hope they are all genuine idols and not replicas. We hear about the smuggling and sale of Hindu idols in Sothebys and Christies every week. Apart from the Bronze gallery the modern art gallery has got beautiful paintings of Ravi Varma and others.

The natural history section has all the birds and animals including Dinosaurs. It is educative for children. Connemara library is adjacent to the Museum. That is also in my list for long- probably next time.

I expected more from coins and philately section. It is not that impressive compared to the British Museum Numismatics section in London. But I saw a rare coin counting board there (I write about it separately)

Outside the building huge guns decorate the walls. The Museum complex has been there for several hundred years. It has got rare trees and thousands of large fruit eating bats. The trees are also named. it is a feast to the eyes of nature lovers.

I took hundreds of pictures and I post the important ones here:-