HYDERABAD: Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan inaugurated two renovated galleries — Indian Bronze and Minor Arts of South India — at Salarjung Museum on Saturday. These galleries will enable more exhibits to be displayed in the museum and are expected to attract a lot of visitors. The Indian Bronze gallery was organised in 1968 and in the year 2019-20 the renovation work of this gallery was started and the same was inaugurated. The total number of objects in this gallery is 108.
These are collected from various parts of India as well as Nepal and Tibet. A spectacular image of Lord Vishnu belonging to the Pallava period of 9th century AD is displayed in this gallery. A four-foot tall Nataraja image of Vijayanagara period from the 14th century, and Parvathi, the consort of Shiva, 13th century Chola bronze sculpture standing on a pedestal are masterpieces. Many other beautiful Hindu idol images are also present in the gallery.
The Jain collection at the museum includes an excellent 8th century bronze image of Parsvanath from Maharashtra with a nine-headed cobra forming a canopy over his head. The South Indian Minor Art gallery which was organised in 1968 was taken up for reorganisation in 2018-19. The total number of objects displayed in this gallery are 138. The gallery of Minor Arts from South India is focused on wood carvings from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
A rich collection of sandalwood images of Gods and Goddesses, rosewood furniture, beautifully carved cabinets with brass plaques, clock cases, door panels and screens are displayed in this gallery.
The gallery also has lacquer furniture and screens which are typically brightly coloured and painted with floral designs. The same section has a beautiful 19th century screen with four partitions from Nirmal, an art centre in Telangana.
OBJECTS ON DISPLAY
The total number of objects in Indian Bronze gallery is 108. A spectacular image of Lord Vishnu belonging to the Pallava period of 9th century AD is displayed in this gallery.