J for JaaduGhar – Kolkata Chronicles

Jaadu- What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear this word? Magic? Sorcery? Alien from the movie Koi Mil Gaya? And if I say Jadu ghar? Perhaps you would think about a house of enchantment. But, not in Kolkata. As usual the city will surprise you. To the city of joy, the name Jaadughar corresponds to the oldest and largest museum of India, also called Indian Museum.

Seriously, I do not know how this majestic building , which is the ninth largest museum in the world and largest in India, landed up with this name. But, my guess is, awed by the wonders it offers to its visitors, the overwhelmed spectators found it magical and started calling it Jaadughar.

Built by the Asiatic Society of Calcutta (Kolkata) in the year 1814, the first museum of India, this construction is said to bring a new age in India. The end of the medieval period and the start of modern age. Pioneer to the 400 museums currently adorning the country, this architecture is witness to many a history. The total of thirty-five galleries spread over broadly six sections, dedicated to Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Geology, Zoology and Economic Botany and displays a rare collection of antiques, armour, ornaments, fossils, skeletons, mummies and Mughal painting.

For a 90s kid of Kolkata, winter vacation always meant new sweater, oranges and visit to crowded places like the zoo, planetarium and of course the “Jaadu Ghar”. Today, if I look back, we did not appreciate much part of it because of our immaturity. So as the elders would try to explain us the significance of the Bharhut gallery and the Gandhara Gallery dominated by the sculptures and relics of the era of the 1st century BCE, we would be more interested to meet the insane sized Stegodon tusks. The massive skull and tusks of the Stegodon ganesa, a predecessor of the modern elephant, was a matter of great aura for the young mind. And the next interesting stop would be the Egypt room. Please forgive me for the ignorance, but when the choice was between the life sized Egyptian Mummy with its sarcophagus and some old remaining of railings, this kid had her priority sorted.

The coin gallery was no less interesting, though the you-cannot-touch-anything restriction took away much of the charm from this gallery. Finally visiting the section dedicated to art houses that displayed beautiful paintings associated with the Mughal we would be basking in glory to have visited this extraordinary place, where ancient Indian civilisation justified all the hype.

I, myself have not visited this great repository of knowledge in the recent years and was always getting the news of this place being neglected and needed much renovation. But, things have started changing as the museum celebrated its bicentenary birthday in the year 2014, when it was granted a fund of Rs 100 crore from the Ministry of Culture, for the renovation and repairs. I am yet to pay visit to the new and improved, ‘old museum’ but, if you are paying visit to this city, do not forget to pay homage to this “house of magic”, upholding the storage of information and the rich heritage of the country and the world

Note: This blog is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z challenge