At Salar Jung Museum, experience a bygone age steeped in aristocratic history & culture

Hyderabad: Salar Jung Museum stands out in this city famous for the historic Charminar and Golconda Fort and pearls and palaces since it is home to the world’s biggest one-man collection of antiquities and works of art.

One of the top tourist destinations in Hyderabad, the Salar Jung Museum draws over 10 lakh visitors a year. In view of the summer vacations, the museum has extended the visiting hours to 7 p.m. As always, it will remain closed on Fridays.

Every day 3,000 to 4,000 people visit the museum and on weekends and holidays the numbers go up to 6,000. Sometimes 12,000 to 13,000 people visit the museum in a day.

People from all over the world go to spend time and learn about art and culture at the museum. It is also one of the most visited sites for educational trips and excursions.

The museum, which is situated on the banks of the Musi River, greets you as you approach the Old City, which is well-known for its ancient structures, beautiful palaces, delectable food, and unique culture.

The Salar Jung Museum is one of India’s three national museums. This museum, which is the third largest in India, is home to a collection of old books, pottery, metal objects, carpets, textiles, paintings, sculptures, and clocks.

The majority of the priceless items in this museum come from many civilizations. Empress Noor Jahan’s, Emperor Jehangir’s, and Emperor Shah Jahan’s daggers are just a few of the significant historical artifacts housed in the museum.

The Salar Jung family owns the historic artifacts kept at the museum and their collection dates back to the first century. The Salar Jung Museum Act of 1961 mandates that the Board of Trustees, whose ex-officio chairman is the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, maintain the museum.

The museum also has a reading area, restaurant, sales desk, and 38 galleries with priceless artifacts.

History

Though often regarded as the biggest single collection of antiquities in the world, it was actually amassed over three generations by an aristocratic family that served as prime ministers to the Nizams, as the monarchs of the princely state of Hyderabad were called. The Salar Jung family was well-known for their passion for collecting artwork from all around the world. Salar Jung I, the first Nawab Mir Turab Ali Khan, established the custom. Among his cherished assets was the lovely marble figure known as “Veiled Rebecca,” which he bought in Rome in 1876.

Salar Jung II, Mir Laiq Ali Khan, passed away at the early age of 26. Nawab Mir Yousuf Ali Khan, Salar Jung III, was responsible for collecting the vast majority of the almost 50,000 antiques. He left his position as Nizam’s prime minister in 1914 and became an avid collector of antiques from all over the world. He invested a sizable sum of money over the course of over 35 years to build up his collections. People think that some of the Nawab’s belongings were stolen when they were moved from Dewan Devdi, the nobles’ residence, to its current location.

The Salar Jung Museum, which mesmerises history buffs, art connoisseurs, and heritage students, houses the priceless and unique artifacts he has gathered for almost 40 years.

“Nawab Mir Yousuf Ali Khan Salar Jung III amassed almost 50,000 books and 43,000 artifacts. However, just a fraction of those artifacts is presently on display in the museum,” says Venugopal P., retired public relations officer and current consultant at the museum.

Yousuf Ali Khan travelled to Europe and other continents to gather artwork. Later, traders from many nations would travel to Hyderabad to offer him their treasures.

Yousuf Ali Khan passed away alone in 1949, therefore Salar Jung’s legacy as a famous art connoisseur was preserved by placing his extensive collection of priceless artwork and books in a museum in Dewan Devdi.

On 16 December 1951, the then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru officially opened it to the public. As a result, the Salar Jung Museum was founded. Up until 1958, when the Salar Jung family donated the whole collection to the government of India, the museum was run by the Salar Jung Estate Committee.

Museum collections

The museum houses 9,000 manuscripts, 43,000 works of art, and 47,000 printed volumes. Galleries display artifacts, some of which are from the fourth century. It features Founders’ Gallery, European art, Middle Eastern art, children’s art, and far eastern and Indian art.

The valued ancestry collections of the Nawab are included in the Salar Jung Museum, which is tastefully decorated. The well-known Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings, Tipu Sultan’s clothing, daggers adorned with diamonds that belonged to old kings and queens, Aurangzeb’s sword, and jewel-encrusted boxes are just a few of the numerous historical artifacts on display.

The museum also has a collection of antique furniture from the 14th and 17th centuries. Woodcut paintings, the “Veiled Rebecca” statue, Mughal miniatures, European sculptures, Chinese porcelain, needlework, metalwork, jade carvings, Japanese silk paintings, and beautiful ivory works are a few additional significant historical items.

The “Mestophiles” and the “Lady with the Lamp,” which are two of the museum’s centrepieces, may also be admired. Among the 300 clocks in the museum, the “19th Century British Musical Clock” is the most coveted object.

“The collection comprises more foreign than Indian artifacts and most of the art objects are decorative pieces. We have collections from almost 33 countries,” said A. Nagender Reddy, the director of Salar Jung Museum.

“Life is evident wherever you look when you enter the Salar Jung Museum. Even the finest collections from Europe lack vitality. The French collection has a ding. Imagine having the dressing table of Marie Antoinette, the final monarch of France before the French Revolution. They would sacrifice their lives to maintain something similar in their nation,” he added.

Infrastructure

Salar Jung Museum was designated a national institution of importance by a law passed by the Parliament in 1961, and as of that year, the state Governor served as the board chairman. The collection was moved to a brand-new structure built along the Musi River’s banks in 1968. Both the western block’s Mir Turab Ali Khan Bhavan and the eastern block’s Mir Laiq Ali Khan Bhavan were built in 2000.

Spread over 10 acres, this magnificent museum and its galleries take visitors on an incredible trip to a bygone age steeped in aristocratic history and culture. The third-largest museum in India has unique objects from a variety of historical eras and geographical locations.

The museum’s 38 galleries are located on two levels. Twenty galleries are located on the first level, and there are 18 galleries on the ground floor. The museum’s galleries include artifacts that are organised according to various themes.