Chandigarh

Museums

Government Museum and Art Gallery
Open from 10.00 hrs to 16.30hrs. all days except Monday and official holidays.

An important building designed by Le Corbusier, in the moving spirit behind its eventual construction in 1968 was Dr. M.S. Randhawa, Chandigarh's first Chief Commissioner, and himself an art scholar. Ratna Mathur Fabri, an outstanding Indian designer made the museum furniture, display screens, showcases and frames.

The present museum (earlier housed in temporary quarters) opened on May 6,1968.In 1949 the collection of the Central Museum, Lahore, was divided between India and Pakistan. India's share, the core collection of this museum, included 619 Gandhara sculptures and 92 ancient sculptures from other periods, as well as 447 miniature paintings (mainly from the Punjab Hills but with some Persian, Mughal and Rajasthani works in addition). Besides there were small collection of objects in stucco and terra cotta metal, ivory, lacquer, ceramic, enamel and fabric.

Over the past 40 years more than 9,000 objects have been acquired, the total number of works now exceeds 10,000. A guide to the museum, a catalogue of contemporary art, a catalogue of Brahmanical sculptures and series of picture postcards are on sale in the museum lobby. Art scholars may consult more than 6,000 books and journals in the museum's reference library. All the manuscripts of Dr. M.S. Randhawa are also preserved here. The museum's documentation section has an extensive collection of photographs and slides. Documentation of the Gandhara Collection has been computerised: computerised documentation of other collections is underway.