Government Museum & Art Gallery

An elite museum situated in sector 10 Chandigarh, the Government Museum and Art Gallery is the pride of Chandigarh. The museum came as a result of the partition of India. Before the partition, all the art, paintings, and sculptures were put in the Central Museum, Lahore, but after the partition and division of the art in 1948, the idea to set up a museum to house these arts, sculptures, and paintings came into existence.

The museum was designed by the Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier and his companions, Manmohan Nath Sharma, Pierre Jeanneret, and Shiv Dutt Sharma around 1962. It was finally built by the end of 1967 and inaugurated in 1968 by then chief commissioner of Chandigarh Dr. M.S. Randhawa.

The collections in the museum firstly come from the partition time when the art was divided between India and Pakistan. Subsequently collecting various art from around the world this museum also house, Gandhara sculptures which include various sculptures of Buddha from different times of his life.

Why visit the Government Museum and Art Gallery?

If you are an art lover or are interested in learning about the art and historical culture of India, this place is a must to be on your to-visit list.

The museum has various art collections that cater to different people, to provide something for everyone. Some of the collections inside the museum that might interest you when visiting include:

• The Gandhara Sculptures are the ones that were given to India during the partitions. It has 627 sculptures of different types and sizes. The main attraction being Buddha Statues from different points of his life. These Sculptures have always been a great interest to historical Scholars.
• Miniature paintings are a big part of this museum. These paintings belong to different regions of India including the Pahari school of art, Rajasthani art, and Sikh art. The exquisite painting portrays the kings and queens of historical time
  along with descriptions of the artists who made it.
• Contemporary Indian Art is also shown in this art museum. It includes the work of renowned artists like, Rabindranath Tagore, Bireshwar Sen, Raj Jain, Jatin Das Gaganendranath Tagore, Anis Farooqui, Jaya Appasami, Manu Parekh, and many others.
• Medieval Indian Sculptures here include historical and religious arts from different states of India like Punjab, Kashmir, Himachal, and Haryana.

Another fun entertainment offering of the museum includes a weekend light and sound show. It is organized in the evenings from 6:15 pm to 7:30 pm in the winters and 7:15 pm to 8:30 pm in the summers. This show is meant to entertain and educate visitors about art and culture.