page_title: Indian Museum, Kolkata
section_title: Indian
hierarchical_section_title: Indian Museum, Kolkata / Collections / Indian
caption_attribution_description: English: Stone sculpture of Devi Durga found in Bengal. Durga Mahishasura-mardini, the slayer of the buffalo demon
context_page_description: The Indian Museum in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, also referred to as the Imperial Museum at Calcutta in colonial-era texts, is the ninth oldest museum of the world, oldest museum in India and the largest museum in India. It has rare collections of antiques, armour and ornaments, fossils, skeletons, mummies and Mughal paintings. It was founded by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Kolkata, India, in 1814. The founder curator was Nathaniel Wallich, a Danish botanist.
  It has six sections comprising thirty five galleries of cultural and scientific artifacts namely Indian art, archaeology, anthropology, geology, zoology and economic botany. Many rare and unique specimens, both Indian and trans-Indian, relating to humanities and natural sciences, are preserved and displayed in the galleries of these sections. In particular the art and archaeology sections hold collections of international importance.
  It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The present Director of the Indian Museum is Shri Arijit Dutta Choudhury who is also the Director General, NCSM and having the additional charge of Director Genral of National Library.
context_section_description: The large collection of ancient and medieval Indian artefacts include remains of the Buddhist stupa from Bharhut, the Buddha's ashes, a copy of the Lion Capital of Ashoka from an Ashoka pillar (original in the Sarnath Museum) whose four-lion symbol became the official emblem of the Republic of India, fossil skeletons of prehistoric animals, an art collection, rare antiques, and a collection of meteorites.
  The Indian Museum is also regarded as "the beginning of a significant epoch initiating the socio-cultural and scientific achievements of the country. It is otherwise considered as the beginning of the modernity and the end of medieval era" by UZER Places.
caption: Stone sculpture of Devi Durga in Kolkata
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