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Introduction

Located in the suburb of Shahbag, in the city of Dhaka, is the biggest museum in Bangladesh. Its staggering collection of over eighty five thousand pieces are beautifully preserved in the twenty thousand square meter building, that is home to large exhibits. Originally established as the Dhaka Museum, in the year 1913, by Lord Carmichael, the museum developed into such a large establishment, that its wealth in artifacts was acknowledged in 1983, by changing its name to the Bangladesh National Museum. The museum welcomes thousands of visitors each year and is amongst the most popular attractions in the city. The massive four storied building is not only home to large exhibition halls, but to a conservatory laboratory, library, three auditoriums, photographic gallery, temporary exhibition hall and an audio-visual division. Amidst the striking collection of paintings, visitors will find ancient relics and items that date back centuries and act as memorabilia to the civilizations that once roamed Bangladesh. Some of the artifacts include sculptures, tapestries, votive seals, terracotta pieces, water color drawings, porcelain items, metal work, weapons and medieval armory, wooden furniture, quilts, fossils and traditional crafts, to name but a few. The exhibitions in the Bangladesh National Museum retrace the history of the country and are an insightful and educational tour of ancient worlds. Seminars and workshops hosted by the museum, answer many questions in regard to lost worlds, and educate the public on the wonderful collections that are preserved with the museum walls. It is truly a remarkable attraction and a noteworthy sight

The Bangladesh National Museum has three auditoriums (Shahid Zia Auditorium, 700 seats, Kabi Sufia Kamal Auditorium, 200 seats and Sculptor Novera Hall, 180 seats) for holding seminars and cultural functions and two temporary exhibition halls (Nalinikanta Bhattashali Exhibition Hall and Sculptor Novera Exhibition Hall for arranging special exhibitions. The Zia Memorial Museum has a Seminar Hall, the Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Sangrahasala has a Seminar Room cum Gallery and a Open Stage Circle for seminar, exhibition and cultural function. All auditoriums and exhibition halls remain closed on Thursday, morning shift on Friday and other Government holidays. The scholars and researchers may get the information regarding research and use the museum library. Expert guide lecturers lead the visitors in the gallery.

Bangladesh National museum performs some specific functions. They are:

To collect, preserve and display the antiquities, works of art, ethnological specimens, relics connected with the Liberation Struggle of Bangladesh, specimens of flora and fauna, traditional crafts and artifacts, products of intellectual activities, audio-visual documentary evidence, and such other objects and items related to the cultural and natural heritage of Bangladesh. To collect, preserve and display material evidence of different aspects of various world civilizations. To publish and sell periodicals, books, anthologies and reproductions of objects. To organize exhibitions, conferences, lectures, seminars and assemblies on cultural and natural heritages of Bangladesh. To organize, with prior approval of the Government, exhibitions outside the country in order to project cultural and natural heritage of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh National Museum establishes a link between the vanishing past and the vibrant present with a view to ensuring the acquisition and advancement of knowledge for intellectual growth, national pride and awakening, social progress, and international harmony, all in the service of the public and in accordance with professional standards.

One of the most crucial and difficult tasks of the museum today is to communicate a country's natural and cultural heritage in a way that illuminates the contemporary situation. Keeping this in view, Bangladesh National Museum seeks to extend the perception of culture in the widest anthropological sense, linking our present-day life to the eternal creative search of man on the one hand and the material world--both natural and man-made--on the other to help the visitors discover a purpose that is common to all.

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