3/5 Mr. Victorious Jaffar W. 10 months ago on Google
The
Lahore
Museum
(Punjabi:
لہور
میوزیم;
Urdu:
عجائب
گھر
لاہور;
"Lahore
Wonder
House")
is
a
museum
located
in
Lahore,
Pakistan.
Founded
in
1865
at
a
smaller
location
and
opened
in
1894
at
its
current
location
on
The
Mall
in
Lahore
during
the
British
colonial
period,
Lahore
Museum
is
Pakistan's
largest
museum,
as
well
as
one
of
its
most
visited
ones.
The
museum
houses
an
extensive
collection
of
Buddhist
art
from
the
ancient
Indo-Greek
and
Gandhara
kingdoms.
It
also
has
collections
from
the
Mughal
Empire,
Sikh
Empire
and
the
British
Empire
in
India.
The
Lahore
Museum,
along
with
the
Zamzama
Gun
located
directly
in
front
of
the
building,
is
the
setting
of
the
opening
scene
in
the
novel
Kim
by
Rudyard
Kipling,
whose
father,
John
Lockwood
Kipling,
was
one
of
the
museum's
earliest
curators.
History
Lahore
Museum
was
originally
established
in
1865–66
on
the
site
of
the
current
Tollinton
Market
–
a
hall
built
for
the
1864
Punjab
Exhibition.
The
present
building
was
constructed
as
a
memorial
of
Golden
Jubilee
of
Queen
Victoria
held
in
1887,
and
financed
through
a
special
public
fund
raised
on
the
occasion.
The
foundation
stone
of
the
new
museum
was
laid
on
3
February
1890
by
Prince
Albert
Victor,
Duke
of
Clarence,
Queen
Victoria's
grandson.
On
its
completion
in
1894,
the
entire
museum
collection
was
transferred
to
present
building
with
its
new
name
as
Jubilee
Museum.
The
museum's
collection
was
later
shifted
in
1894
to
its
present
location
on
The
Mall,
in
Lahore's
British-era
core.
The
present
building
was
designed
by
the
well-known
architect
from
Lahore,
Sir
Ganga
Ram.
Rudyard
Kipling’s
father,
John
Lockwood
Kipling,
was
one
of
the
museum's
first
curators,
and
was
succeeded
by
K.
N.
Sitaram.
In
1948,
as
part
of
the
partition
of
Punjab,
the
artefacts
of
the
museum
were
divided
between
the
newly
formed
countries
of
Pakistan
and
India,
with
the
museum
retaining
about
60%
of
its
collection.
The
rest
was
given
to
India
and
eventually
housed
at
the
Government
Museum
and
Art
Gallery
in
Chandigarh,
built
specifically
for
this
purpose.
The
museum's
golden
years
are
considered
to
be
from
1970
to
1990,
when
scholar,
archaeologist,
and
museologist
Dr
Saif-ur-Rehman
Dar
served
as
its
director.
He
wrote
several
books
about
the
museum,
and
his
tenure
was
complemented
by
that
of
B.A.
Qureshi,
who
was
the
chairman
of
the
museum's
board
of
governors
back
then.
After
that,
the
condition
of
the
museum
went
deteriorated
due
to
the
lack
of
support
for
its
restoration.
Over
250,000
visitors
were
registered
at
the
Lahore
Museum
in
2005.
This
dropped
to
236,536
in
2016,
214,697
in
2017,
but
rose
to
227,994
in
2018.
It
was
the
most
popular
museum
of
Pakistan
among
foreigners
in
2016
(2,956
visits)
and
2017
(2,941
visits).
It
dropped
to
second
place
(with
3,659
foreign
visitors)
in
2018,
having
been
replaced
by
Taxila
Museum.
Scope
The
museum
displays
archaeological
materials
from
Bronze
Age
(Indus
Valley
civilization)
to
the
medieval
era
Hindu
Shahi
period.
It
has
one
of
the
largest
collections
of
archaeology,
history,
arts,
fine
arts,
applied
arts,
ethnology,
and
craft
objects
in
Pakistan.
It
also
has
an
extensive
collection
of
Hellenistic
and
Mughal
coins.
There
is
also
a
photo
gallery
dedicated
to
the
emergence
of
Pakistan
as
an
independent
state,
the
Pakistan
Movement
Gallery.
Collections
The
museum
has
a
number
of
Greco-Buddhist
sculptures,
Mughal
and
Pahari
paintings
on
display.
Over
58,000
artifacts
are
reported
to
be
part
of
its
collection,
with
only
14,000
being
on
display.
The
collection
contains
important
relics
from
the
Indus
Valley
civilization,
Gandhara,
and
Graeco-Bactrian
periods
as
well.
The
Fasting
Buddha,
dating
from
the
Gandhara
period,
is
one
of
the
museums
most
prized
and
celebrated
objects.
The
coin
collection
consists
of
38,000
rare
coins.
1 person found this review helpful 👍