Museum sights in Kolkata (Calcutta)
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A
Indian Museum
Kolkata’s old-fashioned main museum fills a glorious colonnaded palace around a central lawn. Extensive exhibits include fabulous 1000-year-old Hindu sculptures, lumpy minerals, a whole dangling whale skeleton and endless pinned insects. Gag at the pickled human embryos (gallery 19), notice the surreal Glyptodon dinosaur-armadillo (gallery 11) and don’t miss the impressive life-size reproduction of the 2nd-century BC Barhut Gateway. No bags are allowed inside. Handbags can be checked in at the entrance but don’t arrive with a backpack.
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B
Rabindra Bharati Museum
Epitomising the cultural spirit of Kolkata was the brilliant poet, novelist, playwright and artist Rabindranath Tagore, who took India to the world. India's greatest modern poet and a passionate nationalist, he penned what would become the lyrics for India's national anthem.
Tagore also became Asia's first Nobel prizewinner for literature. The rambling complex of Tagore House is now a centre for Indian dance, drama and music. North of BBD Bagh, it houses an impressive museum and university for fine arts.
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C
Asiatic Society
Priceless collection of ancient books and illuminated manuscripts. A few of these are displayed in a mothballed one-room museum, including a letter signed by Shah Jahan and a 250 BC Ashokan inscription. Getting to see them involves a hilariously bureaucratic procedure involving five separate sign-ins on four different floors. Bring your passport.
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D
Kolkata Panorama
Inside the former Calcutta Town Hall Building Kolkata Panorama introduces the city's heritage through a lively collection of working models and interactive exhibits. It's well designed though historically selective and many foreigners will struggle to appreciate fully the detailed sections on Bengali popular culture.
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E
Ashutosh Museum of Indian Art
Tucked behind Kolkata University’s Central Library, the Ashutosh Museum of Indian Art displays priceless if slightly dry displays of fabulous antique Indian sculpture, brasswork and Bengali terracotta. It’s down the first lane off College St as you walk north from Colootola Rd.
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F
Academy of Fine Arts
The bright, ground-floor galley of the Academy of Fine Arts has changing exhibitions featuring local contemporary artists but the upstairs museum section is under reconstruction.
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G
Nehru Children's Museum
The little Nehru Children's Museum displays 400 dolls from 37 countries and has colourful dioramas re-telling the Hindu epics.
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