Aficionados of Hyderabad, the cultural treasure trove cant help raving about Salar Jung Museum, India’s third largest museum. The museum sited in the hot seat of cultural splendor contains antique pieces and artifacts from nearly all epochs of history.
The existence of the museum is credited to Nawab Mir Yousuf Ali Khan Salar Jung III as well as the Prime Minister of the seventh Nizam, whose passion lay in collecting priceless antiques. His diverse collection has been moved from his ancestral mansion 'Diwan Deodi' to a private museum. Finally these masterpieces were shifted to Afzalgunj’s Salar Jung Muesum in 1968, and was under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, who was acting as the ex-officio chairperson under the Salar Jung Museum Act of 1961.
Salar Jung Museum, flaunting the country’s largest ‘one-man collection’ of antiques rests on the southern bank of the Musi River. The museum is a dream come true for those who love to take long trips along the musty pages of history with its varied collection of over 43000 art objects, 50000 books and manuscripts. These compilations include works and relics of Indian Art, Middle Eastern Art, Far Eastern Art, European Art, and Children Art along with an elaborate Founder’s gallery.
The semi-circular building is a magnificent architectural edifice with 38 galleries spread across two floors of an imperial building. Each gallery has its own specialty with one housing the Nizam’s personal belongings, another houses Indian artifacts. Others display a plethora of items ranging from paintings, musical instruments, preserved stages showcased in glass cabinets, Kashmiri furniture and handicrafts as well a multitude of other valued historical relics.
A visit to Hyderabad’s Salar Jung Meuseum opens up treasure chest of unbelievable cultural legacy an unveils an ancient figurine of Veiled Rebecca, Double figure by Italian sculptor G.H Benzoni, Musical clock, Arabic Al Quran in Nashq (1288 AD), jade crafted knifes of Jehangir & Nurjahan and Famous European paintings like 'Venice', 'Soap Bubbles' etc
For further details the interested reader may contact:
# Salar Jung Museum,
Afzalgunj,
Hyderabad - 500002
Telephone : 040-2523211
