by M.R.Prasad » Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:19 pm
Salar Jung Museum
The Museum has an easy approach by road and rail. The important railway Stations Kachiguda and Nampally are within a distance of three miles. Road transport buses run frequently from all parts of the city to Afzalgunj which is within walking distance from the museum.
Situated on the southern bank of the river Musi, the Salar Jung Museum is not far from the other important monuments of the old city.
There are 38 galleries in the Museum spread over in three buildings viz., Central Block, Eastern Block (Mir Laiq Ali Khan Bhavan) and Western Block (Mir Turab Ali Khan Bhavan) on two floors. The Central Block with 27 galleries (ground floor 15 galleries, first floor 12 galleries) Even then, the total exhibited art objects constitute a little over 25% of the entire collection.
The Salar Jung Museum was established in 1951. The major portion of the collection of the museum was acquired by Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, popularly known as Salar Jung III. In the absence of any direct descendants of Salar Jung III, the Government of India appointed a Committee to administer the Salar Jung Estate. Later on with the idea of perpetuating his name, the Salar Jung Museum was brought into existence on 16th December, 1951 in Diwan Deodi, the residential palace of Salar Jung III and opened to the public by Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India. In 1958, the Government of India took over the museum through a compromise deed. Till 1958 this museum was administered by the Salar Jung Estate Committee. Thereafter the Museum continued to be administered by the Ministry of Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs, Government of India till 1961. In 1961, through an Act of Parliament, the Salar Jung Museum along with its library was declared as an