Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad

51±¬ÁÏÍø

Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad

Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad (must see)

The Salar Jung Museum is an art museum located at Darushifa, on the southern bank of the Musi river in the city of Hyderabad. It is one of the three National Museums of India. It has a collection of sculptures, paintings, carvings, textiles, manuscripts, ceramics, metallic artefacts, carpets, clocks, and furniture from Japan, China, Burma, Nepal, India, Persia, Egypt, Europe, and North America. The museum's collection was sourced from the property of the Salar Jung family.

The Indian historical collections includes: the paintings of legendary Raja Ravi Varma; Aurangzeb's sword; Jade crafted daggers of Emperor Jehangir, Noorjahan and Shah Jehan; a wardrobe of Tipu Sultan and a tiffin box made of gold and diamond. The furniture collection belonging from the time of Louis 14th-17th and Napoleon. Salar Jung III collected about 43,000 artifacts and 50,000 books and manuscripts out of which only few are displayed in today's museum.

The museum building in a semicircular shape with 38 galleries, spread on two floors, displays only a part of the original collections. The ground floor has 20 galleries and the first floor has 18 galleries. The exhibits on different subjects are displayed in separate galleries. Each gallery is huge and has many artefacts on display including ones dated back to the 17th century. Apart from the galleries, there is a reference Library, reading room, publication and education section, chemical conservation lab, sales counter, cafeteria etc. Guides are available at fixed timings free of charge.

There are Aurangzeb's daggers belonging to empress Noor Jehan, emperors Jehangir and Shah Jehan, the turbans and chair of Tippu Sultan, furniture from Egypt, paintings on display. Among the sculptures stands out the world famous statue of Veiled Rebecca by G.B. Benzoni, an Italian sculptor, in 1876. Her beautiful face hazily is visible through a marble but gossamer veil. Equally captivating is a double-figure wood sculpture. It stands before a mirror and shows the facade of a nonchalant Mephistopheles and the image of a demure Margaretta in the mirror. The eastern section is of equal importance with its wide variety of silk weaving and different art forms, including layer wood cutting paintings, porcelain works and many more, dating back to almost 2ndcentury.

The Museum has a famous Quran Collection from around the World in different fonts and designs. The Quran Written with Gold and Silver, There are many more collections of religious books,as well as Arabic Quran.

A bewildering variety and array of clocks greets the visitor in the clock room. There are ancient Sandiaers in the form of obelisks to huge and modern clocks of the twentieth century. Others in the range vary from miniature clocks which need a magnifying glass to imbibe their beauty and complexity to stately grandfather clocks from as far away as France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Britain. A visual delight is the musical clock Salar Jung bought from Cook and Kelvey of England. Every hour, a timekeeper emerges from the upper deck of the clock to strike a gong as many times as it is the hours of the day.

The Indian Parliament has declared the museum an Institution of National Importance. The museum is open from 10:00 to 17:00 (except on Friday). Camera/Mobile Camera are allowed for Rs.50.
Sight description based on Wikipedia.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Hyderabad. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "51±¬ÁÏÍø: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

Download The 51±¬ÁÏÍø App

Salar Jung Museum on Map

Sight Name: Salar Jung Museum
Sight Location: Hyderabad, India (See walking tours in Hyderabad)
Sight Type: Museum/Gallery
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Walking Tours in Hyderabad, India

Create Your Own Walk in Hyderabad

Create Your Own Walk in Hyderabad

Creating your own self-guided walk in Hyderabad is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Hyderabad Old Town Tour

Hyderabad Old Town Tour

The capital and the largest city of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad is particularly renowned for its Old Town part, rich in attractions, such as Chowmahalla Palace, Nizam Museum and several ancient mosques, some of which date back to the 16th century. Take this self-guided tour to explore these and other prominent landmarks of Hyderabad's Old Town.

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.8 Km or 2.4 Miles
Hyderabad Cultural Venues

Hyderabad Cultural Venues

Hyderabad is the city of contrasts. There are many cultural sites and places of interest to explore here, including NTR Memorial, State Archeology Museum, Public Gardens and many religious sites, such as Birla Mandir (Hindu temple), St Joseph's (Roman Catholic) Cathedral and more.

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 5.3 Km or 3.3 Miles