Albert Hall is the oldest museum of Rajasthan and functions as the
State museum of Rajasthan. It is located in Ram Niwas Garden outside
the city wall of Jaipur on the other side of the New gate. This museum
displays a large collection of ivory, jewellery, musical instruments,
statues of Gods and Goddesses, carpets, Bikaner Pottery, Jaipur
Pottery, Miniature painting gallery, carpets, crystal works,
sculptures of metal, this museum is a perfect example of
Indo-Saracenic architecture.
In
the beginning Maharaja Ram Singh like to convert this building into a
town hall, but his heir, Madho Singh II, want to covert this building
into a museum for the art of Jaipur and included as part of the new
Ram Nivas Garden. The design of the museum was laid by Sir Samuel
Swinton Jacob. In 1887 this museum was opened to public. Since 1959,
the galleries on the ground floor of the museum have been modernized
and renovated. The jewellery and dresses of all the tribes and classes
of Rajasthani people including the honored class that mostly consists
of merchant and Rajputs are also exhibited inside the museum which are
very unique. These encompass the lifestyle of the tribals such as
Bhils, Gadoliya Lohars, Bhopas, Meenas, and many more. One gallery has
also been committed to the henna body art of Rajasthan commonly Known
as 'Mehndi Mandana', which displays classic Rajasthani designs and
patterns which are well-known all over the world.
Other gallery of the museum exhibits a collection paintings of Phad
and Puppets (Manuscripts of paintings clearly represents the life of
pabuji Rathore, who was a great folk-hero from Marwar). It is named
after King Edward VII (Albert Edward), during his visit to Jaipur as
Prince of Wales, the foundation of the museum was laid on 6 February
1876. The Albert Hall Museum called as Central Museum is located in
the Ram Niwas Garden. Ram Niwas Garden is located outside the city wall
which is located opposite to the New Gate in Jaipur. It is one of the
oldest museum of Jaipur. This museum was founded by Maharaja Sawai Ram
Singh II in 1868, at the time when King Edward the Prince of Wales
visited India.
Albert hall contains Indo saracenic type of architecture and is
designed same as the Victoria and Albert museum which is situated in
London. The building and the assortment beholds the beauty of the
sight along with the pillars. The courtyards and the arches of the
museum are worth seeing. This Albert museum was built in the 19th
century. This museum amazingly contains 19,000 historic objects and
has various collections like metal ware, ivory work, lacquer work,
jewelry, textiles, pottery carved wooden objects, arms and weapons,
clay models , sculptures, educational, scientific and zoological
objects, tribal costumes, ceramics, oil and miniature paintings, inlay
work, musical instruments, clocks and marble statues.
The foundation of the museum was laid by Colonel Sir Swinton in 1876
to welcome King Edward VII as Prince of Wales on his visit to India.
After 10 years from the designing of the museum it was opened to the
public. The museum also has a collection of rare articles on its
display which includes metal and wood crafts, weapons and arms, flora
and fauna of the state, carpets. One of the most prominent exhibits of
this museum is Egyptian mummy.
In the museum there is also a scene of a Persian garden Carpet with
running water streams, one of the famous carpet is inside the museum.
Mirza Raja Jai Singh bought it from Shah Abbas of Persia. The central
museum is the most visited destination by tourists from all over. It
is well-known for its huge and exclusive collection. Tourists are also
attracted to this museum due to Egyptian Mummy. A part of the museum
is also known as Darbar Hall which has the largest covering on floors
in the world. It is the oldest and finest identified carpet. |