Government Museum, Chennai

Government Museum, Chennai
Museum Theatre, the front façade of the Government Museum, Chennai
Government Museum, Chennai is located in Chennai
Government Museum, Chennai
Government Museum, Egmore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Government Museum, Chennai is located in Tamil Nadu
Government Museum, Chennai
Government Museum, Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
Established1851; 173 years ago (1851)
LocationEgmore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Coordinates13°04′16″N 80°15′25″E / 13.0711°N 80.2569°E / 13.0711; 80.2569
TypeArt museum, History museum
Collection size1.7 million
Visitors602,345 (2018)
OwnerMinistry of Culture, Government of India
Public transit accessChennai Egmore (Suburban)
Logo of Chennai Metro Egmore
Websitewww.govtmuseumchennai.org

The Government Museum, Chennai, or the Madras Museum, is a museum of human history and culture located in the Government Museum Complex in the neighbourhood of Egmore in Chennai, India. Started in 1851, it is the second oldest museum in India after the Indian Museum in Kolkata. It is particularly rich in archaeological and numismatic collections. It has among the largest collection of Roman antiquities outside Europe, peculiarly in the numismatics field, and is very likely the most richly endowed museum in Asia (outside Western Asia) concerning this civilisation.[1] Among them, the colossal Museum Theatre is one of the most impressive.[2] The National Art Gallery is also present in the museum premises. Built in Indo-Saracenic style, it houses rare European and Asian painting of renowned artists, including that of Raja Ravi Varma.[3][4] It had 0.6 million visitors in 2018. It has the richest collections of bronze idols, 500 of them dating to 1000 BCE, in Asia.[5]

  1. ^ Śrītar, Ti Śrī.; Suresh, S.; Sundararajan, N. (2011). Roman coins in the Government Museum, Chennai. Government Museum, Chennai. OCLC 999367074.
  2. ^ Suresh, S. (21 May 2011). "Times Property Section". The Times of India. Chennai: The Times Group. p. 2.
  3. ^ J.Jeyaraj, George. "Indo Saracenic Architecture in Chennai" (PDF). CMDA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  4. ^ "heritage buildings" (PDF). CMDA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  5. ^ ""Demand for audio-guides at museum for information on artefacts"". Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019.