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Indian Museum
 One of the oldest museums in Asia, the Indian Museum was founded in 1814. You'll need an entire day, or more, to fully enjoy the fossils, coins, stones, Gandhara art, meteors and much more that go to make up this museum. Don't miss the 4,000-year-old mummy here, whatever else you do! Also on display is an urn said to contain the Buddha's ashes. Just ask anybody on the road for the way to the "Jadughar" (literally, house of magic).
The Museum has six sections
Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Geology, Zoology, and Industry (Economic Botany).
The Art Section comprises Tibetan temple banners, metal images, enamelled wares, bidriwares,
ornaments, silver wares, glass wares, pottery, ivory and bone work,
wooden sculptures, leather objects, lacquered toys,
articles in jade and crystals and rare textiles from all parts of the
Indian sub-continent.
The Archaeological Section
displays stone-age artifacts from India and abroad, pre-historic antiquities from Mohenjodaro, Harappa, ranging from 2500 B.C. to 1500 B.C. , sculptures belonging to all phases of history from the 4/5 century B.C. to the late mediaeval times; inscriptions on stones and copper, Indo-Muslim architectural pieces and a representative collection of Indian coins. Indian bronzes and the art and crafts of Bengal are also housed in two separate galleries. A special gallery, displays a large variety of various Indian musical instruments.
The Anthropological Section displays numerous objects of material
cultures of both tribal and
 non-tribal
peoples of India,
large dioramas put up through considerable amount of research
work.
The extensive Geological Section has over 80,000 specimens, displayed in four galleries showing varieties of meteorites, precious stones, ornamental building stones, rocks and minerals and fossils.
The Zoological section, is rich with innumerable specimens of insects, fish, reptiles, mammals and birds.
The industrial Section has several thousand botanical specimens bearing upon medicine, forestry, agriculture and cottage-industry.
The Museum has a publication unit and a library.
Also runs a mobile-unit for rural areas. Offers guide service, arranges
seasonal series of lectures and sells guide books, picture-cards and
plaster-casts of ancient sculptures. Periodically publishes bulletins.
Exhibits are labeled in English, Bengali and Hindi.
How To Reach There
Air : Kolkata is well connected to major international & domestic airports. The international Netaji Subhash Airport (Dum Dum Airport) is 20 kms from the city. Most of the domestic airlines have direct services to and from Calcutta-Kolkata to other important cities of India such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Patna, Varanasi, Lucknow, etc.
Rail : Calcutta is served by two railway station, Haora (Howrah) and Sealdah and is connected to major cities all over the country. The tourist railway booking office is on the 1st floor at 6 Fairlie Place near BBD Bagh.
Road : Calcutta is connected by an extensive network of national highways with major cities and towns. Buses generally depart from the Esplanades bus stand area at the northern end of the Maidan near Chowringhee Road. But there are a number of private companies which have their own stands. Buses to and from the South generally use the bus stand near Fort William at Babu Ghat.
Address
27, Jawarharlal Nehru Road, Kolkata
Timings
: 10.00 to 17.00 (March - November)
10.00 to 16.30 (December - February)
Opens on all days except Mondays and recognized holidays.
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