Lahore Museum
The Lahore Museum (; ; ""Lahore Wonder House"") is a museum located in Lahore, Pakistan. Founded in 1865 at a smaller location and opened in 1894 at its current location on The Mall in Lahore during the British colonial period, Lahore Museum is one of Pakistan's most visited museums and one of the major museums in South Asia. The museum houses an extensive collection of Buddhist art from the ancient Indo-Greek and Gandhara kingdoms. It also has collections from the Mughal Empire, Sikh Empire and the British Empire in India. The Lahore Wonder House, along with the Zamzama  Gun located directly in front of the building, is the setting of the opening scene in the novel "Kim" by Rudyard Kipling, whose father was one of the museum's earliest curators. History. Lahore Museum was originally established in 1865–66 on the site of the current Tollinton Market – a hall built for the 1864 Punjab Exhibition. The present building was constructed as a memorial of Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria held in 1887, and financed through a special public fund raised on the occasion. The foundation stone of the new museum was laid on 3 February 1890 by Prince Albert  Victor, Duke of Clarence and Queen Victoria's grandson. On its completion in 1894, the entire museum collection was transferred to present building with its new name as Jubilee Museum. The museum's collection was later shifted in 1894 to its present location on The Mall, in Lahore's British-era core. The present building was designed by the well-known architect from Lahore, Sir Ganga Ram. Rudyard Kipling’s father, John Lockwood Kipling, was one of the museum's first curators, and was succeeded by K. N. Sitaram. In 1948, as part of the partition of Punjab, the artefacts  of the museum were divided between the newly formed countries of Pakistan and India, with the museum retaining about 60% of its collection. The rest was given to India and eventually housed at the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, built specifically for this purpose. Over 250,000 visitors were registered at the Lahore museum in 2005. Collections. The museum has a number of Greco-Buddhist sculptures, Mughal and Pahari paintings on display. The collection contains important relics from the Indus Valley civilisation, Gandhara, and Graeco-Bactrian periods as well. The "Fasting Buddha," dating from the Gandhara period, is one  of the museums most prized and celebrated objects. The ceiling of the entrance hall features a large mural by Pakistani artist Sadequain who originally made the mural in 1972 and 1973. The museum also contains fine specimens of Mughal and Sikh carved woodwork and has a large collection of paintings dating back to the British period. The collection also includes musical instruments, ancient jewellery, textiles, pottery, and armory, as well as some Tibetan and Nepalese work on display. Scope. The museum displays archaeological materials from Bronze Age (Indus Valley Civilization) to the medieval era Hindu Shahi period. It has one  of the largest collections of archaeology, history, arts, fine arts, applied arts, ethnology, and craft objects in Pakistan. It also has an extensive collection of Hellenistic and Mughal coins. There is also a photo gallery dedicated to the emergence of Pakistan as an independent state, the Pakistan Movement Gallery. Book. The book "Masterpieces of Lahore Museum", written by Anjum Rehmani, was published by the museum in 1999 with financial assistance from UNESCO. A new edition was published in 2006.