India Attractions

Venue: Government Museum    When: Daily; not Fri

The buildings making up the impressive Government Museum originally belonged to a group known as the Pantheon Committee, which was charged with improving the social life of the British in Madras (as Chennai was then known).

Within the complex lie an Art Gallery, Department of Natural History, a Museum Theatre and the Connemara Public Library. The museum itself, established in 1857, has sections devoted to geology, archaeology, anthropology, numismatics, botany, zoology and sculpture. There is also a good collection of arms and armour, exhibits from the Stone and Iron ages, exquisite carvings and a fairly large collection of South Indian musical instruments and jewellery. The bronze gallery has a superb collection of Chola art.