Established | 29 September 1977 and in a new building on 18 June 1996 |
---|---|
Location | Adil Shah's Palace (Old Secretariat), [1] Panaji, Goa, India |
Coordinates | 15°29′35″N73°49′59″E / 15.4931401°N 73.8330715°E |
Website | http://goamuseum.gov.in/ |
Goa State Museum, also known as the State Archaeology Museum, Panaji, is a museum in Goa, India. Established in 1977, it contains departments including Ancient History and Archaeology, Art and Craft, and Geology. The museum, as of 2008, had about 8,000 artifacts on display, including stone sculptures, wooden objects, carvings, bronzes, paintings, manuscripts, rare coins, and anthropological objects. Currently, the Museum is located at the Adil Shah's Palace (Old Secretariat) in Panaji. [1] The Museum's erstwhile premises at the EDC Complex in Patto, Panaji shall be demolished to make way for a new Museum building. [2] [3] [4] [5]
The museum was earlier located at the EDC Complex in Patto, Panaji; before that, it was housed at St. Inez, Panaji. [6] Currently, the Museum is located at the Adil Shah's Palace (Old Secretariat) in Panaji. [1] The Museum's erstwhile premises at the EDC Complex in Patto, Panaji shall be demolished to make way for a new Museum building. [2] [3] [4] [5]
The museum was created as an Archaeology Museum unit of the Department of Archives in Goa in 1973, opening a small museum in a rented building on 29 September 1977. After building a new museum complex, it was formally inaugurated by the President of India on 18 June 1996. [6] [7] The museum's exhibits provide information about the ancient historical and cultural traditions of Goa, which are displayed thematically, to showcase different aspects of the history and culture of Goa. [8] [9]
The Goa State Museum has fourteen galleries, arranged thematically, which are the: Sculpture Gallery, Christian Art Gallery, Printing History Gallery, Banerji Art Gallery, Religious Expression Gallery, Cultural Anthropology, Contemporary Art Gallery, Numismatics Gallery, Goa's Freedom Struggle Gallery, Menezes Braganza Gallery, Furniture Gallery, Natural Heritage of Goa Gallery, Environment & Development Gallery, and Geology Gallery. [7] The museum has about 8,000 artifacts representing all regions of India, as well as 645 objects borrowed from the Institute Menezes Braganza Art Gallery and the Kala Academy. [6]
The Sculpture Gallery predominantly exhibits artifacts of Hindu and Jain sculptures, including bronzes, [8] from the 4th to the 8th centuries. [10] The ancient sculptures are of Kubera, Yakshi, Uma and Mahishasuramardini from Netravali. There are two undated stone sculptures of the Southern-Silahara period, one of two warriors from Kundai called Kantadev which was earlier located in front of the Navadurga temple, and another of Surya which was earlier part of the circumbulatory (pradakshinapath) of the Shri Chandreshwar Bhutnath Temple. [11] There are also bronze sculptures which are copies of European artists including Claude and Dalon. The gallery has an inscription dated to 1049 on a copper plate of Vira Varma, the Kadamba king. [6]
In the Christian Art Gallery, there are many types of wooden sculptures of saints, and devotional paintings and some wooden furniture of the colonial period. There are also exhibits of Jain busts, three large raised works of art in relief, busts of Luís de Camões, Afonso de Albuquerque, and Dom João de Castro, which was earlier on the walls of the Municipal Gardens. [10]
The Banerji Art Gallery has number of exhibits gifted to the museum by S. K. Banerji, a former Governor of Goa and hence the gallery is named after him. Some of the exhibits are terracota antiquities of Indus Valley civilization, seals of Janapadas, plastic art of the Gandhara school of art, bronze images from South India, wooden images of South East Asia, and Dhokra non–ferrous metal casting of art works. There are also miniature paintings of Rajasthan of the Jaipur School, Marwar school, Mewar school and so forth, Mughal paintings, Nathdwara, patachitras from Orissa, and paintings of contemporary artists. [6]
An exhibit within the Contemporary Art Gallery includes a pair of an antique rotary lottery machines. [8] These were known as Provedoria lottery machines manufactured in Lisbon. A few pictures also display the procedure for operating these machines. [12] They have thousands of wooden balls, and the first lottery draw is stated to have been held in 1947. There are many miniature paintings from different regions of India. [10] The gallery has paintings and sculptures of Goan and Indian artists such as R. Chimulkar, F. N. Souza, S. H. Raza, M. F. Hussain, K. H. Ara and many more which have been borrowed from the Kala Academy and Institute of Menezes Braganza. A flag which marks Portuguese victory over the Dutch is also on display. [6]
Menezes Braganza Gallery contains contemporary Goan and Indian art, [10] as well as portrait pictures of Portuguese Governors of Goa and Prime Ministers. [6]
Viragal or hero stones, which belonged to the King Biravarma period, are exhibited in the Cultural Anthropology Gallery. These stones represent the naval battle fought between the army of rulers of Gopalapattanam and Honavar and are commemorative stones erected to the memory of naval soldiers who died during the naval battle of the local chieftain Biravarma who is believed to have ruled over Goa. The stones indicate advanced technological skills that was in practice in building naval craft for battle. One such viragal depicts a ship with an "axial rudder" with seven rowers. In another viragal, there are nine oar holes and a "stern-post rudder" which was a further technological improvement over the axial rudder. These exhibits indicate that the Chalukyan kings like Kirtivarman I (566–597) ruled over Goan territory. [13] The exhibits also consist of ancient period utility vessels, many types of games, weights and measures, a replica of a sugarcane crusher, crane and farm implements as well as clay models of different vocations. [6]
The Environment & Development Gallery has cultural exhibits from many villages of Goa. [10] The Geology Gallery has a fossil bone dated 10,000 BC. [6]
The Religious Expression Gallery has a highly impressive sculpture of Lord Vishnu dated to the Gupta period. Other exhibits display a variety of multi-cultural religious colloquium of Goa's past. A replica of "Tarang", a traditional musical instruments, vessels used in religious rites, manuscripts in palm-leaf and paper of many religious scriptures and some photographs of many religious rites and festivals. [6]
The Numismatics Gallery has a display of Portuguese-era coins. [8] The Furniture Gallery contains an intricately carved table and high-backed chairs which was part of the Portuguese Inquisition held in Goa of the 16th century. The legs of the table have carved lions and an eagle in one half and four figures of human beings in the other half. [8] [10] Furniture exhibits include a chair of the Portuguese Governor General, a sofa set with inlay work in ivory, ivory images of small size, chest of drawers and some western style furniture. [6] In this gallery the prominent exhibit is of an intricately carved wooden chariot of the 18th century used in festivals. [8] [10]
Panaji is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary in the Tiswadi sub-district (tehsil). With a population of 114,759 in the metropolitan area, Panaji is Goa's largest urban agglomeration, ahead of Margao and Mormugao.
The Salar Jung Museum is an art museum located at Dar-ul-Shifa, on the southern bank of the Musi River in the city of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It is one of the notable National Museums of India. Originally a private art collection of the Salar Jung family, it was endowed to the nation after the death of Salar Jung III. It was inaugurated on 16 December 1951.
The state of Goa, in India, is famous for its beaches and places of worship. Tourism is its primary industry, and is generally focused on the coastal areas of Goa, with decreased tourist activity inland.
Padhye Brahmin community hails from Goa, commonly known as "Bhatt", they speak a unique dialect of Konkani known as "Bhati Bhasha".
A Goan temple is known as a dēvūḷ (देवूळ) or sansthān (संस्थान) in the Konkani language. These temples were once the centres of villages, cities, and all the other social, cultural and economic gatherings in Goa. These were known as grāmasansthās (ग्रामसंस्था) in Konkani.
Mahamaya Kalika Saunsthan is a temple complex in Kansarpal village of Bicholim taluka in the state of Goa, India. The presiding deity of the temple is Kali worshipped in the form of Mahamaya. The goddess Kali, the terrible and cruel to the demons and evil doers, is worshiped with blood sacrifice in most parts of India, in Goa however the fierce invocation of the deity was never popular. As per the tradition, after slaying the demons Madhu and Kaitabha, the deity's anger was soothed and the deity manifested herself in a peaceful (Shanta), gentle (Soumya) form, which is very popular in Goa.This form of Kali is also known as Bhadrakali or Kali who is gracious.
Chandor is a village in Salcete sub-district of South Goa, in the Indian state of Goa. It lies on the southern bank of the Zuari River and western bank of the Kushavati River.
Tristão de Bragança Cunha, alternatively spelled as Tristao de Braganza Cunha, was a prominent Indian nationalist and anti-colonial activist from Goa. He is popularly known as the "Father of Goan nationalism", and was the organiser of the first movement to end Portuguese rule in Goa.
Luís de Menezes Bragança, alternatively spelled as Luís de Menezes Braganza, was a prominent Indian journalist, writer, politician and anti-colonial activist from Goa. He was one of the few Goan aristocrats who actively opposed the Portuguese colonisation of Goa. During his lifetime, Menezes Bragança was widely hailed around the Lusosphere as "O Maior de todos" and in the Indian mainland as "The Tilak of Goa".
The Museum of Christian Art, in the former colonial capital of Old Goa, is a museum of Christian art. It is currently closed for a renovation and refurbishment project.
Vamona Ananta Sinai Navelcar was an artist from Goa, India, who had studied and worked in Portugal, Mozambique, and Goa. Navelcar was born in Pomburpa village.
Institute Menezes Braganza is a cultural institution set up by the Portuguese in colonial times, during the late 19th century. It was taken over by the Government of Goa and continues to play a role in cultural activities of Goa. In recent years, its takeover by the government was fought over in the Bombay High Court.
Goa is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the east and south, with the Arabian Sea forming its western coast. It is India's smallest state by area and its fourth-smallest by population. Goa has the highest GDP per capita among all Indian states, two and a half times as high as the GDP per capita of the country as a whole. The Eleventh Finance Commission of India named Goa the best-placed state because of its infrastructure, and India's National Commission on Population rated it as having the best quality of life in India. It is the third-highest ranking among Indian states in the human development index.
Laxman Pai was an Indian artist and painter. He was a principal of the Goa College of Art, a post he held from 1977 to 1987. Pai was a recipient of several awards including India's third highest civilian honour of Padma Bhushan, awarded by the Government of India.
Jainism flourished in Goa during the rule of Kadamba dynasty. Broken sculptures of the Jain Tirthankara Suparshvanatha, belonging to the period of the Goan Kadamba ruler Shivachitta Permadi Dev, were discovered in an old Jain temple in Jainkot, Naroa.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Goa:
Antonio Xavier Trindade was an important painter of the Bombay School in the early 20th century.
Frederika Menezes is a Goan author, poet and artist. She is best known for her book, Unforgotten. A poem of hers, The Different Normals, is yet to feature in English textbook of the Goa Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education (GBSHSE).
Subodh Kerkar is an Indian painter, sculptor and installation artist, and founder of the private art gallery Museum of Goa. He is known for his artworks and installations.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Goa State Museum . |