Introduction

Bangladesh National Museum preserves and displays the cultural property and heritage, as well as specimens of natural history of Bangladesh. Its mission is to establish a bridge between the past and the present and uphold the national tradition and culture. The museum itself has a history, which began with the establishment of Dhaka Museum on 20 March 1913 with an annual government grant of Rs 2,000. The Governor of Bengal, LORD CARMICHAEL , formally inaugurated the museum on 7 August 1913 in a room of the Secretariat Building (at present, the DHAKA
COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL ). MEDICAL

I visited the Bangladesh National museum to explore the nations culture and historical evolution. The visit was very much important to find out about Bangladesh. It is always important to explore the history, culture and evolutionary events of a nation through a visit of the national museum. To study Bangladesh from a single point information access I decided to make the visit.

Collection in Bangladesh National Museum

The Bangladesh National Museum was shifted to its present site at Shahbag on 17 November 1983. The four-storied building of the museum has 43 galleries on a total floor space of 238,000 square feet. Ground FloorThe ground floor consists of some old guns in the entrance and the hall where the people book their tickets or assemble to hear the history of the museum. The hall leads to a grand staircase. Beside the hall there is a smaller room which also acts like the hall (it is also used by the guides to tell the visitors about the history) and a simple staircase.

1st Floor The 1st floor is divided into 22 rooms.

1st room The first room consists of a large map showing the map of Bangladesh and the 64 districts.

2nd room The 2nd room consists of an under going work of a large statue of the Royal Bengal Tiger.

3rd-10th room These rooms consist of natural beauties found in Bangladesh. In one of the room there is showcase of a tongue of a whale.

10th-22nd room The other rooms contain some historic relics of Bengal up to 1900. There is a room which shows the different boats used by the rural people.

2nd Floor The 2nd floor consists of photos of famous people and showcases the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Language Movement of 1952. There are posters used in the war, a torture machine and much more. There are also two libraries

3rd Floor The 3rd Floor consists of Pictures of International politicians, artists, scientists, famous pictures and three international galleries- Korean, Iranian and Swiss

The galleries include: Bangladesh in maps; Rural Bangladesh; SUNDARBANS; rocks and minerals; plants; flowers, FRUITs and creepers; animals; BIRDs; mammals; ELEPHANT; life in Bangladesh; BOATs of Bangladesh; tribes of Bangladesh-1; tribes of Bangladesh-2; potteries; archaeological artifacts;

sculpture-1; sculpture-2; architecture; inscriptions; coins, medals and ORNAMENTS; ivory works; arms and weapons; metal works; porcelain and glassware; dolls; musical instruments;TEXTILES and costumes; embroidered quilts; wood carvings-1; wood carvings-2; manuscripts and documents; traditional and miniature paintings; Shilpacharya ZAINUL mementos of national heroes, martyred intellectuals; WAR
ABEDIN

Gallery; contemporary art-1; War of Liberation-2;

contemporary art-2; eternal Bangladesh, portraits of national heroes, historical documents and
OF LIBERATION-1;

world art-1; world art-2 and portraits of world personalities. The museum has two auditoriums one with 700 seats and the other with 200 seats, a temporary exhibition hall and office rooms for officers and the staff. By June 1998, the museum had collected 82,475 objects. The most significant objects are: ancient petrified wood (2.5 million years old) collected from LALMAI andMAINAMATI; blackstone Naga Darwaza (serpent doorway) of 10th-11th century collected from Bangarh, DINAJPUR; pieces of atom bombs blasted in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in 1945; mat made of ivory; objects of the Liberation War of Bangladesh; objects used by the martyrs of the LANGUAGE collection of contemporary art including various types of statues. According to the nature of objects displayed, the museum is divided into four curatorial departments. These are: Department of History and Classical Art, Department of Ethnography and Decorative Art, Department of Contemporary Art and World Civilisation, and Department of Natural History. The important objects under the supervision of the Department of History and Classical Art include the table on which the Instrument of Surrender was signed by the Pakistan army on 16 December 1971; the first flag of independent Bangladesh hoisted at foreign missions; documents of the Liberation War of Bangladesh; torture machines; The historic declaration of BANGABANDHU SHEIKH MUJIBUR RAHMAN delivered on 7 March 1971 in Dhaka; the bullet- ridden and blood-stained shirt and shoes of Shaheed Shafiur Rahman, a martyr of the language movement of 1952; personal mementos of martyred intellectuals and Shaheed Asad; historical mementos of ROQUIAH
TAGORE ; SAKHAWAT HOSSAIN ,MICHAEL MADHUSUDAN DUTT , KAZI NAZRUL ISLAM MOVEMENT ; MUSLIN

of

Dhaka; items of folk art and crafts; coins of emperor Sher Shah; terracotta plaques; sculptures and

and RABINDRANATH

ancient blackstone, sandstone and metal sculptures; coins of gold, silver and metal; ancient

inscriptions and manuscripts; terracotta plaques; wooden sculpture; medals, royal decrees and historic artworks; iron axes; archaeological artifacts and objects of religious significance.

Remarkable objects under the supervision of the Department of Ethnography and Decorative Art include muslin SARI; decorative umbrella and sari; choga (a sort of loose and long outer dress); achkan (kinkhab- ceremonial dress); textiles; boats of Bangladesh; weapons made of iron; cannons; nakada (war drum); swords; filigree models; ivory works; NAKSHI
KANTHA

(embroidered

quilt); plates and dishes of porcelain; potteries; dolls; wood carvings; musical instruments; ornaments worn by various tribes; dresses worn by tribes; ornaments worn by women; fishing implements; objects of household decoration; moulds of decorative cakes; and strings of glassbeads. The important objects under the Department of Contemporary Art and World Civilisation include paintings and sculptures of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, Quamrul Hasan and artist S M Sultan and artworks and reproductions of works by renowned artists from home and abroad; potteries burnt during the Second World War in Hiroshima of Japan and various local and foreign objects collected from Bangabhaban. Objects supervised by the Department of Natural History include mapping of rocks, minerals and population of Bangladesh; geological map of Bangladesh; water colour paintings of rural Bangladesh; stuffed Royal BENGAL
TIGER

of

the

Sundarbans, chitral

deer,

honey

bee, PEAFOWL, CATTLE and birds, fruits and flowers, butterflies, pet animals, marine mollusc, elephant, monkey, LANGUR and the skeleton of a whale. Two other departments are Conservation Laboratory and Department of Public Education. The laboratory looks after the restoration of museum objects using scientific methods. The Department of Public Education conducts museumrelated education programmes for the public and students. This department has seven sections: education, display, library, publications, audio-visual, auditorium and photography. The Department of Public Education organises seminars, symposia, exhibitions, competitions and educational and cultural functions.

Observation and conclusion

After visiting the national museum of Bangladesh I came to know about the evolutionary history of Bengal. The ancient and medieval periods were so prominent in front of me. The collection of the old and ancient atones and parts of sculptures depict the dynasties and their style of ruling. Also the galleries containing the art and civilization of Bengal show the style and nature of art and culture of Bangladesh over the last two thousand years. The famous works of Jainul Abedin, S M Sultan and all other painters are there to delineate the heritages of Bangladesh. National pride is shown by the collection on language movement and war of liberation. Collection of used materials of martyrs of language movement and war of liberation depicts how hard Bangladesh tried over the years to be free from colonial rule. Depiction of famous political personalities and scholars give glimpse of their contribution for the nations development and growth. The collection on the materials used by the grameen people of Bengal shows how they actually live their lives. Weapons of many famous Sultans and Rajas who ruled Bengal show their ability and style of doing war or conquering. Apart from the own cultural and historical legacies the museum also has collection on famous international personalities. This includes scientists, scholars, politicians, artists, musicians etc. It shows that how influential they have been on Bangladesh culture and people. To study Bangladesh and its relation with international bodies and other countries it is very good to have a close observation of the National Museum. The visit absolutely has given me clear picture about the history and cultural heritage of Bangladesh. Everybody who are studying about Bangladesh need to do so.