State Archaeology Museum, Panaji
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 at present 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.
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 A.D.
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 etc., 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
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.
A Museum Week is celebrated every year in the second week
of January, during which various programmes are arranged
including display of new collection. The Museum also arranges
other programmes during the year such as Painting competition,
Essay competitions and Quizzes.
Museum is open from Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m.
