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Central Museum in Indore

Indore City is full of many historical places and monuments for the history buffs. While taking the tour of the city, one cannot bypass the Central Museum which is also called Indore Museum. The museum which is one-of-its-kinds, houses huge collections of Hindu and Jain sculpture belonging to the medieval and per-medieval era.

The Central Museum Indore is not only acclaimed for its unique and vast collection of items but it is considered as one of the most stunningly designed building of Indore.  The museum is located in the central position of Indore, near the GPO on A. B. Road and can be very easily reached by tourists as well as locals.

Central Museum Indore
Central Museum in Indore

History of Central Museum Indore

The Indore Museum otherwise known as Indore Museum was established in the year 1929 in the October Month in the famous Nar-Ratna Mandir. In the year 1969, the museum got a new venue that was located near “Residency Kothi”. The Central Museum has 6 galleries which are named as- the Antiquity Gallery, The Hinglajgarh Art Gallery, the Inscription Gallery, the Malwa Art Gallery, the Numismatic Gallery, the Arms Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art.

Collection at Central Museum Indore

The fantastic antique and artifact collection exhibited in the various galleries of the Central Museum take the visitors on a journey of history of India that dates back to 5000 B.C. The various exhibits that the Central Museum has are fossils, tools from Stone Age, artifacts obtained from the excavation of Mohanjodaro. Materials from various Chalcolithic places like Awra, Maheswar, Dangwada etc from various parts of Malwa are also exhibited here. Terracotta items from Kosambi, Shravast, Kasravad from the ancient India are also kept here.

Central Museum of Indore
Sculptures at the Central Museum Indore

Important sculptures of this museum are Sarawati –from 3rd century AD, Shiva Vareshwar, Bhuvaneshwari and others. The numismatic Gallery has collection of coins made of precious metals like gold and silver as well as copper belonging to Tripuri, Janapadiya ,Eran and Ujjaini. Inscriptions on stone and copper plates belonging to Western Malwa are kept at the inscription gallery of the Central Museum. These inscriptions belong to the period of Guptas, Rajputs and Paramaras.

Indore Central Museum
A Beautiful Sculpture of a lady


The armory gallery has different weapons made of stone, sickles made of quartz and others that depict the ancient lifestyle of people of India. There is gallery of modern art that has many artworks made on Italian marble, ivory, China Clay. One of the important exhibits is a bowl(lota) made of ivory.

Important sculptures and other items of the Central Museum belonged to the Guptas and the Paramaras and are from 11th-12th AD. These sculptures and statutes were obtained from various ruins of temples of Hinglajgarh. Visitors can see statues of Devi Parvati and Lord Shiva on Nandi, a standing Parvati statue, a damaged statue of Chamunda and a statue of Harihara.

Central Museum in Indore City
Sculpture Depicting the Love of Mother and a Child

There is doorframe kept as an exhibit in the museum. The doorframe is adorned with different figures.
The Central Museum boasts the largest Ganapati Statue of the world. The total height of the statue is 8 meters and it has frame that is made with various metals like gold, silver, iron, copper, and brass.

There is a beautiful garden in the Central Museum Premise that has an attractive figure of Lord Vishnu made of red bricks. There is a sculpture Jain Tirthankar Adinath (13th AD).  Many items belonging to the Buddhist religion are also found here.The Central Museum attracts numerous tourists, archaeologists, artists and history enthusiasts from all over the world.

How to reach Central Museum Indore

Indore City is well connected to the various other cities of Madhya Pradesh as well as to the other parts of the country. Visitors can take any mode of conveyance rail, road or air to reach Indore City.

Reach Indore by Train

The Indore Junction BG/MG, an important station of the Western Railway, is only 1 KM away from the center of Indore City and many super fast, express/mail and passenger trains run through this important junction station. Apart from this junction station, Indore does have few other railway stations. Taxi, auto and bus services are also available from the railway station to the City center.

Reach Indore by Road

The national highways NH3 (National-Agra Road)  and NH9 (Ahmadabad-Indore Road) pass through Indore City. There are luxury, semi-luxury bus services from various parts of Madhya Pradesh and other states as well. Bus services are available from Jaipur, Gwalior, Bhopal, Mumbai and others. People from the nearby cities hire taxi or prefer to take private cars to reach Indore City. Within the city, auto-rickshaw and cycle-rickshaw is the popular mode of transport.

Reach Indore by Air

Indore can be reached by air. The only airport of Indore is located about 10 KM from the city and is named as Devi Ahilyabai  Holkar Airport. Indore is joined by private and public airlines and has flights to various important places like Delhi, Bhopal, Chennai, Jaipur, Mumbai and others. Taxi services can be availed from this airport to the center of the city.

Other Details about the Central Museum of Indore

Location- Nawlakha, Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Timing-
10 AM-5 PM every day except Monday and other public holidays
Entry Fee- No Entry Fee is needed
Guides are also available in the museum premises.

Best Time to Visit: The museum could be visited throughout the year but the best time to visit is from October to March.

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