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State
Archaeology Museum
The State
Archaeology Museum was initially located in rented
premises at St Inez in Panaji. It was opened for public
on 29th Sept 1977. A new building was constructed on the
outskirts of Panaji at the Patto Plaza, and the museum
was shifted to this new building and inaugurated by the
President of India on 18th June 1996. At present there
are seven galleries in the museum which are the
Sculpture Gallery, the Christian Art Gallery, the
Banerji Art Gallery, the Religious Expression Gallery,
the Cultural Anthropology, the Contemporary Art Gallery
and the Western Bronzes Gallery. The museum has the
collection of about 8000 objects, which includes Stone
Sculptures, Wooden objects, Bronzes, Paintings,
Manuscripts, numismatic collection, anthropological
objects, clay models etc. There are also around 645
objects loaned from Institute Menezes Braganza Art
gallery and the Kala Academy. |
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Sculpture Gallery
This gallery has some of the best objects of the entire
collection of the museum. In the Sculpture Gallery, the stone
sculptures and bronzes of different deities, Hero stones and
Sati stones are displayed. This gallery also includes
inscriptions or photographs thereof dating from the 4th
century AD. A significant among these is a copper plate
inscription of Viravarma, the Kadamba king, dating back to
1049 A.D. The oldest object in the museum i.e. fossil bone
dating 10000 B.C. is also exhibited here.
Christian Art Gallery
The gallery exhibits wooden statues of various Christian
Saints and others including Pieta. There are also portraits of
past Portuguese Governors of Goa and Prime Ministers. It also
includes some rare paintings on wood, metal and canvas, some
furniture pieces like a carved table and chair of the
Portuguese Governor General, a sofa set with ivory inlay work,
small ivory idols, chest of drawers and few chairs of western
style. An interesting item is a flag which was used to
commemorate the Portuguese victory over the Dutch.
Banerji Art Gallery
Shri S. K. Banerji, an Ex-Governor of Goa, has donated a very
rich collection to the Goa State Museum. This collection is
housed in this gallery named after him. It includes terracota
objects of Indus Valley Civilization, seals of Janapadas,
stone sculptures of Gandhara school of Art, South Indian
bronzes, wooden sculptures of South East Asia and Dhokra ware.
In addition to this Rajasthani miniature paintings of Jaipur
School, Marwar school, Mewar school, paintings of Mughal
style, Nathdwara and patachitras of Orissa and few
contemporary paintings are also displayed here.
Religious Expression Gallery
An ancient image of Lord Vishnu from the Gupta period is one
of the most striking and valuable possessions kept in the
Religious Expression gallery. This gallery reflects the varied
and multi-cultural religious expressions of Goa over the
years. It includes a model of "Tarang", traditional musical
instruments, worship utensils, palm-leaf manuscripts and paper
manuscripts of different religious texts and also few old
photographs of various religious ceremonies and festivals.
Cultural Anthropology Gallery
Cultural Anthropology gallery displays the objects related to
cultural anthropology such as household utensils, different
games, weights and measures. It also exhibits a model of a
sugarcane crusher, crane and agricultural implements. The most
remarkable are the clay models showing different professions.
Contemporary Art Gallery
In the Contemporary Art Gallery, paintings and sculptures of
well-known Goan and Indian artists are exhibited. There are
paintings of eminent artists like R. Chimulkar, F. N. Souza,
S. H. Raza, M. F. Hussain, K. H. Ara and many others received
on loan from the Kala Academy and Institute of Menezes
Braganza are displayed here.
Western Bronzes Gallery
In the Western Bronzes Gallery, replicas of the bronze
sculptures of European Artists like Claude, Dalon and others
are displayed. These bronzes form an important of the museum
collection. |
