Himachal Pradesh state museum, State museum in Shimla District, India
The Himachal Pradesh State Museum is a collection of sculptures, paintings, handicrafts, and artifacts that represent the heritage of this Indian region. The exhibition displays crafted objects and historical pieces that show how people lived here and expressed their skills and beliefs.
The museum building opened in 1974, but the structure itself was built in the 1860s as a Victorian mansion and once served as a residence for Lord William Beresford. This transformation shows how a colonial home was later converted into a place for preserving regional knowledge.
The collection includes 248 handwritten manuscripts in Bhoti, Persian, Takari, and Devnagri scripts that reflect the literary traditions people developed across the region. You can see how different communities expressed themselves through writing and what they chose to record and keep alive.
The museum is located on Chaura Maidan Road and is open Tuesday through Sunday, with different entrance fees depending on whether you are visiting from India or abroad. Plan an hour or two to walk through the collections and explore the various exhibition sections at a comfortable pace.
The numismatic section displays coins spanning from the Maurya period through the Mughal and Sikh dynasties, showing the economic development of the region over many centuries. This coin collection reveals how trade and money changed hands across different eras in this geographically isolated area.
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