While the palaces and castles grab the lime light at Jaipur, the Albert Museum is a must visit to witness the grandeur of the erstwhile monarchs.
History
The Albert Museum was built in 1887. The museum is named after Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales in 1876. This museum is a must visit place in Jaipur which you can experience with Palace on Wheels.
Architecture
Albert Hall Museum is unique in itself, depicting an Indo- Saracenic architectural style. The whole museum is decorated with stone ornamentation, inspired by the Rajput and Mughal designs. The corridors of the museum are beautiful with mural paintings depicting different stories from Ramayana, illustrations from the Persian paintings, Razmnama, stories from European, Egyptian, Chinese, Babylonian and Greek civilisation.
Collection
The Albert Hall Museum is a treasure house of jewellery, accessories, souvenirs and artefacts collected from all around the country.
- Ivory- This is a wide range of statues and idols carved from elephant trunk or ivory. The statues are finely carved and life seems to be frozen in these white ivory idols, which also depict the lifestyle of the Rajasthani locals, their art and culture.
- Coins- Deep dive into the contemporary cultural, political and sociology-economic backdrop of different civilisations with the wide collection of coins, which include punch marked coins, silver and copper coins with four to five different symbols.
- Carpet-This gallery is truly a fairy tale land with exquisite Persian Garden carpets, highlights charbagh, different animals and fish painted in different colours. There are also carpets as well, which belong to the 19th
- Pottery- This segment is treasures with glazed traditional pottery from Bikaner, Hyderabad, Sindh, Multan, Bengal and Bahawalpur.
- Clay Art- These beautiful clay figurines belong to the 19th century and have some amazing arts like the entire range of Yogic postures, judicial execution process and punishments which were given to thieves in earlier days.
- Jewellery- Besides the jewellery of Maharajas and Maharanis, the Albert Hall Museum also displays jewellery and accessories worn by peasants of the 19th These include jewels made from brass, gilat and silver.
- Metal Art- The 19th century vessels, salvers and carvings made from brass, bronze, silver, zinc and different alloys depict the shields used during the era of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
- Sculptures- The sculptures stored at this Hall has some rare collections, like stone sculptures of Lord Shiva which belong to the 8th century, 4th century sandstone statues of Yakshi and 10th century black stone statues of Chaturbhuji Vishnu.
- Marble Art- Watch how religion transformed into a fine art at this gallery of Albert Hall. Nav Grahas, Dasa Avatar, Mahisasur Mardini, Shiv Pariwar and Jain Tirthankaras are just few collections.
- International Art- Just not Indian but Albert Hall is filled with relics of Egyptian Mummy 322- 30 BC, Pharaonic antiquities of 11th to 1st century BC, Graeco- Roman statues, Japanese dolls, bronzes and swords.
- Arms and Armour- Arabian daggers, elephant goads with blades, pointed knifes, gun powder horns are some of the weapons which were used by Mughal, Rajput, Hyderabad, Afghan, Arab, Turkey and Iranian soldiers.
This is just a snippet of what is stored in the galleries of Albert Hall. It seems to be an infinite treasure of history with its miniature paintings, musical instruments, garments, textiles, furniture and woodenart.
Opening Time
Albert Hall Museum remains open on all days of the week, from 9am till 5pm and again from 7pm till 10pm.
So get ready to visit this modern museum of ancient heritage to know and love India even more.
You can reach the destination through road, air and Palace on Wheels train, which is the most famous luxury train for Rajasthan. Before planning your trip, checkout the schedule of Palace on Wheels train and make your trip more precious.