Government Museum, Mathura

Government Museum, Mathura

Front view of the Museum in Mathura
Established	1874
Location	Mathura
Key holdings	Mudgarpani Agnipani Parkham Yaksha Mathura Herakles Isapur Yūpa Saptarishi Tila statue Bhutesvara Yakshis
Founder	Frederic Growse
Director	Shiv Prashad Singh

Government Museum, Mathura, commonly referred to as Mathura museum, is an archaeological museum in Mathura city of Uttar Pradesh state in India. The museum was founded by then collector of the Mathura district, Sir F. S. Growse in 1874. Initially, it was known as Curzon Museum of Archaeology, then Archaeology Museum, Mathura, and finally changed to the Government Museum, Mathura.^[1]

Overview

The museum houses artifacts pottery, sculptures, paintings, and coins primarily from in and around Mathura, plus discoveries made by noted colonial archaeologists like Alexander Cunningham, F. S. Growse, and Fuhrer.^[1] The museum is famous for ancient sculptures of the Mathura school dating from 3rd century BC to 12th century AD., during Kushan Empire and Gupta Empire.^[2] today it is one of the leading museums of Uttar Pradesh.^[3]

The Government of India issued a postage stamp on 9 October 1974 on the centenary of the museum.

Notable collections

• 
  Archaic Mother Goddess, Prehistory, 4th Century BCE
• 
  3000-year-old anthropomorphic copper figure (ACCN 93-51) found at Shahabad, UP
• 
  Parkham Yaksha, 150 BCE^[4]
• 
  Mudgarpani Yaksha, 100 BCE^[5]
• 
  Seated Bodhisattva, 1st century CE^[6][7]
• 
  Jain chaumukha sculpture with Suparshvanatha and Three Other Tirthankaras, 1st century
• 
  Jain Ashtamangala, 1st century
• 
  Ayagapata, Jain Tablet, 1st Century
• 
  Naigamesha Jain god of Childbirth, 1st-3rd century CE.^[8]
• 
  Parshvantha, Kushan Period, 2nd century
• 
  Tirthankara, Kushan Period
• 
  Statue of Kanishka I (c. 127 – c. 140), Kushan Empire.
• 
  Standing Buddha, 2nd century CE
• 
  Head of Buddha. C. 5th Century CE, Chamunda mound, Mathura district
• 
  Jain colossal head, Gupta period
• 
  Standing Buddha, 5th century CE
• 
  Rishabhanatha idol, 6th century
• 
  Jain chaumukha sculpture, 6th century
• 
  Parshvanatha, Post Gupta Period, 6th-8th Century CE
• 
  Goddess Ambika - Medieval Period
• 
  Four-armed seated Vishnu in meditation. Medieval Period, Pannapur.
• 
  Anjani with Child Hanuman, Bronze, Pallava Period
• 
  Naminatha, 12th century
• 
  Bodhisattva Manjushri statue, 15th-16th Century
• 
  Buddha with Vajra, Bronze, 18th Century
• 
  Balarama, 18th Century
• 
  Baby Krishna with Ball, Bronze, Modern Age
• 
  Cast and Mould, Prehistory and Terracotta Gallery
• 
  Statue of Victoria, Empress of India

See also

• Mathura lion capital

References

• Bharat Online – Mathura Museum

Further reading

• Sharma, R. C. 1976. Mathura Museum and Art. 2nd revised and enlarged edition. Government Museum, Mathura.
• Growse, F. S. 1882. Mathura A District Memoir.
• Kumar, Jitendera. Masterpieces Of Mathura Museum. Sundeep Prakashan. ISBN 81-7574-118-X.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mathura Museum.

• Mathura Museum
• Mathura, a District Memoir

27°29′34″N 77°40′50″E / 27.4928°N 77.6806°E / 27.4928; 77.6806

This page was last edited on 31 January 2024, at 16:35