The Bihar Museum in Patna has earned global recognition after ranking ninth on a list of 100 museums worldwide. It also topped the list of Asian museums. A proud moment for our nation indeed! While we make it a point to visit iconic museums abroad, our own museums have often been overlooked and ignored, making this long-overdue recognition all the more significant.
Designed by Pritzker Prize- winning Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, the Bihar Museum is a spectacular ensemble of buildings and open spaces that has earned a five-star GRIHA rating, the highest for sustainable design. The process began in 2011 with an international design contest, as the ageing Patna Museum was deemed inadequate to accommodate the growing need for a larger museum. With the project envisioned as a collaboration between Indian and international architects, Mumbai-based Opolis Architects joined Maki’s team, and their design was selected.
The eco-friendly design was conceived as a campus of interconnected buildings rather than one enormous block, with considerable attention paid to creating harmony with nature. Courtyards between the independent structures establish a connection with the surrounding environment, each following a distinct theme. Contemporary jaali screens allow natural light to filter through, offering a welcome departure from the often box-like, dark interiors of conventional exhibition spaces. On the exterior, low-maintenance Corten steel was used, a material that also evokes Bihar’s rich natural resources and India’s achievements in metallurgy and the steel industry.
This treasure trove of history and culture has managed to outshine renowned institutions such as the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, securing a place among the world’s top ten museums. And here’s a glimpse of what lies within.
The crowning glory
If the Louvre’s star attraction is the Mona Lisa, the Bihar Museum has its own crowning treasure — The Didarganj Yakshi. Carved from a single block of Chunar sandstone, this magnificent sculpture, traditionally attributed to the Mauryan period, is a marvel of ancient Indian craftsmanship. The story of how she came to be discovered is almost as fascinating as the sculpture itself.
In 1917, a Muslim religious teacher, Maulavi Qazi Sayyid Muhammad Azimul, happened to be searching for a grinding stone along the banks of the River Ganges. Coming across a large block of stone, he thought his mission was accomplished. Imagine his surprise when he discovered that what he had mistaken for a mere stone was actually the pedestal of a monumental sculpture, its surface polished to an extraordinary sheen! The magnificent Yakshi was unearthed, and the residents of Didarganj began worshipping her in a shrine. Archaeologists soon intervened, recognising the significance of the discovery, and the sculpture was moved to the Patna Museum. Her beauty was unparalleled, and the finesse of her execution remarkable. The sandstone surface, painstakingly burnished to achieve a mirror-like finish, is particularly striking. She subsequently travelled to several countries as part of exhibitions showcasing Indian art.
In 1985, when she returned from yet another exhibition with a dent on her cheek, public outrage over the damage raised serious questions about the safety of this priceless national treasure. The episode renewed calls for her protection, and she eventually found a place in the Bihar Museum, where visitors can marvel at her magnificence.
Smiles from the past
Two terracotta busts greet visitors with smiles from within the museum. One is that of a boy and the other, his female companion. Small in size, these sculptures offer insights far greater than their dimensions suggest. For starters, their headgear and elaborate hair adornments bear the influence of Greek styles, hinting at the cultural exchanges between the Mauryas and the Greeks of the time. But there is another, rather intriguing lesson these busts offer — an insight into the social conventions of the period. The girl wears a coy, restrained smile, almost as though letting go of her inhibitions might somehow compromise her reputation. The boy, on the other hand, makes no such concessions. His smile is uninhibited, radiating an unrestrained joy, seemingly unburdened by any concerns of propriety. The contrast between the two expressions speaks volumes, leaving one to wonder whether even a smile was expected to observe the rules of gender in those days!
The pursuit of desire
The Lady with a Parrot, a beautiful stone sculpture from the Gupta period, is a fine example of the aesthetics of this Golden Age, when the pursuit of pleasure was regarded as a philosophical goal. With her voluptuous curves and delicately rendered, almost translucent garments, the sculpture is an exquisite embodiment of sensuality. The parrot perched alongside her adds another layer of meaning, as it is traditionally associated with Kama, the god of desire. During the Gupta period, leisure activities were often intertwined with the pursuit of pleasure, and training parrots to recite poetry and familiar phrases was one such pastime. Even the art of teaching a bird to speak, it seems, had its place in the elaborate culture of courtly pleasures!
Homecoming
Not everything in the museum takes you back in time. India’s celebrated contemporary artist Subodh Gupta’s monumental, seven-metre-wide circular sculpture, titled Yantra, is one of the most striking installations here. Created in 2017, the artwork resembles a cosmic wheel when viewed from a distance. Executed in the artist’s signature style, it brings together steel utensils and kitchen appliances that are familiar fixtures in Indian households. By transforming everyday objects from middle-class kitchens into a sculptural cosmic formation, Subodh captures the coexistence of the old and the new in regional economies such as Bihar, where urban and rural lifestyles continue to thrive alongside each other. For an artist who hails from Bihar and moved to Delhi, having this monumental work find a permanent home at the Bihar Museum is, indeed, a homecoming of sorts.
From ancient sculptures that whisper stories of a glorious past to contemporary installations that reflect the pulse of a changing society, the Bihar Museum is a living legacy that continues to shape who we are.