Bhau Daji Lad Museum is the oldest museum in Mumbai
city of India. Rani Jijamata Udyan makes the picturesque setting of this
historical museum at Ambedkar Road, in Byculla area of Mumbai. Built in
1872, it was initially christened as Victoria & Albert Museum after
the museum of London. The museum has a great collection of
archaeological relics, maps and photographs that peep into the history
of Bombay. It was later renamed after its benefactor, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad,
who dedicated his life to this museum.
The history of Bhau Daji Lad Museum reveals that it was planned with an
amount of Rupees 6,000, at the initiative of Dr. Bhau. The marvelous
structure of building had lost its sheen with the times, but thanks to
Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Mumbai (INTACH)
that is renovating the museum with utmost care. The treasury comprises
of more than 6000 valuable artifacts, including sculptures, pottery,
coins, ivory work, paintings, etc. It has special sections on the social
and cultural life in India also.
Apart from the above compilation, the museum has over 4,000 reference
books and manuscripts in its supervision. The clay models, costumes,
finely shaped silver, copper ware etc, are amongst the most-cherished
compilation which is worth taking a glance. Victoria & Albert Museum
also contains atypical photographs of early Bombay and testimonials from
the colonial past. The half-done collection was first exhibited to Lord
Canning in 1856. Today, Bhau Daji Lad Museum is revived in its
appearance, with gold ornamentations on wall corners, ceilings, hand
railings and blue-painted pillars.
