Museums

The Anand Bhawan

History:

Anand Bhawan (the abode of Bliss) is a beautiful palatial house situated at the erstwhile ‘1 Church Road’ which is now a residential museum dedicated to the Nehru Family, India’s first and foremost political dynasty.

The history of this picturesque mansion goes back to late 19^th century where during the 1857 holocaust Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (Islamic Reformist and Philosopher) was invited by the British Rulers to settle in Allahabad in order to placate the Muslims (mostly freedom fighters) who had been brutalized during the 1857 uprising. Yet out of this an imposing edifice a Kothi was erected on a 20 acre land in 1871. The building was originally called ‘Mahmud Manzil’ as it was named after Reformist’s son Mahmud (Justice Syed Mahmood) while later it was sold to Kunwar Parmanand Pathak, a pleader in the High Court, who named it ‘Pathak Nivas’ till it was taken over by Pt. Motilal Nehru in 1898 at a sum of rupees 20,000 and finally taking the name ‘Anand Bhawan’.
While the design of Anand Bhawan is attributed to Motilal himself, in popular culture it is said that the name Anand Bhawan was essentially given by famous poet ‘Akbar Allahabadi’ who upon being asked by Motilal Nehru suggested the name during the house warming party. Interestingly the poet had apparently named is house ‘Ishrat Manzil’ having the same meaning ‘the Abode of Bliss’.

The present ‘Anand Bhawan’ served home to the Nehru family till Mid 20^th Century (1946) as the original mansion Swaraj Bhawan: the abode of freedom (then Anand Bhawan) was transformed into the local headquarters of the Indian National Congress in 1930 during the Civil Disobedience Movement.

The history of this quaint palatial bungalow is as fascinating as its successive owners. It was here where the seeds of the very first Non-Cooperation Movement were sown in 1920 on the behest of Mahatma Gandhi where he had addressed numerous public meetings in the green lawns of Anand Bhawan. The Burning of foreign clothes was witnessed for the first time here at this open space of Anand Bhawan. The museum has a Gandhi room where he used to stay very often during his visits in Allahabad where one can see Gandhi’s personal affects especially his sacred Gita and the charkha that are neatly stationed in the room.

The Museum and Attractions:

Swaraj Bhawan: The estate that was once the private residence of Motilal Nehru, his son Jawaharlal Nehru (Independent India’s First Prime Minister) and granddaughter Indira Gandhi who was born here in 1917, now houses a memorial and a rich memorabilia related to the Nehru family with some rare photographs of the Indian freedom movement. The structure is typical bungalow architecture with big – appointed rooms surrounded by a veranda and has an ornate fountain in the inner courtyard of the mansion. The building had a tennis court in one of its big lawns, with having an indoor swimming pool and a sauna bath, while on the entrance in the portico one can still see the bagghi used by Motilal Nehru, one of the most influential – wealthiest lawyers of his times whose fees ranged upto Rs.1,52,000.

Anand Bhawan: The building has an exquisite design a full-fledged Haveli Architecture adorned with western opulence where the interiors are well appointed with imported Mahogany and Teak Furniture, Persian tapestries, Venetian glassware and Chinaware from Dresden and Porcelains that were bought by Motilal Nehru during his foreign trips. The residence is famous for its pillared verandahs and high-ceilinged rooms. The complex was donated by Indira Gandhi to the nation in 1970 and was married here in 1942. The campus also has a science museum called the ‘Jawahar Planetarium’ and ‘Jawahar Bal Bhawan’ which runs classes for orphaned children.

Well nothing more can be said about this historic place where interestingly something that was purposely built as a cementing centre of the British Empire went on to become the epicenter of the Indian freedom movement after decades of its inception.

Allahabad Museum

Pre – 1947:

Established in 1931, the Allahabad museum is a museum of national importance and is one of the very few museums that come under the direct control of Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The history of the museum dates back to 1863 when the Board of Revenue requested then North – Western provincial Government to establish a museum and a public library as a result of which a beautiful building was inaugurated in 1878 with contributions from then Lieutenant Governor Sir William Muir and the Maharaja of Vizianagaram HM Gajapati Raju III. In 1931 a new museum was opened in the Municipal Building of Allahabad under the direct initiation of the Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru who was the president of the Municipal Board as the earlier one was closed down due to unforeseen reasons in 1881. This was time when the museum acquired some of the finest art collections and masterworks of the most eminent personalities of Bengal School Arts such as: Asit Kumar Haldar, Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir, Anagarik Govinda, Jamini Roy and Nand Lal Bose…

Post 1947:

The proliferation of collectibles and limited space within the house made it difficult to manage and organize the museum in a systematic way so it was decided to reallocate the entire museum to a whole new premise in the Alfred Park. Consequently the stone was laid by Pt. Nehru on 14^th December 1947 to mark the founding of the new building. The museum was finally opened in the year 1954. Today the Allahabad Museum is a state of the art research facility for Archaeologists, Conservators, Historians and Renowned Scholars from around the world. The museum uses its own Solar Power System being country’s very first museum to become self-reliant in power generation. The Governor of Uttar Pradesh serves as an ex officio Chairman of the Allahabad Museum.

Collections:

The Allahabad Museum has 16 dedicated galleries of artifacts related to Art, History, Archaeology, Architecture and Literature from prominent sites across the continent that ranges from 40,000 BCE to 21^st Century.
The museum has the largest Terracotta collection in the world.
The museum has a magnificent collection of Nicholas Roerich’s paintings. A renowned personality who earned several nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. Roerich was a Russian painter, philosopher & archaeologist who died in Himachal Pradesh, India. There are 10 Roerich Halls all over the world where his works have been displayed, Allahabad Museum is one among them.
Prehistoric cave paintings in the Rock Art Gallery dates back to 2000 B.C. which is among the oldest in the country.
The entrance hall of the museum has a welcome display of Azad’s (Chandrashekhar Azad) preserved Colt pistol, a .32 bore semi-automatic pocket hammerless 1903 model which he used to shoot himself after a long gunfight with the British police force at the Alfred Park in 1931, the same year when Allahabad Museum was established.
The Ford truck in the museum compound is museums one of most valued possessions i.e. the Gandhi Smriti Vahan, the 47-Model V-8 Ford Truck which was used in the procession to immerse Gandhi’s ashes at the Holy Sangam on February 12, 1948.
The Early Sculptor Gallery has an abacus of a Ashokan pillar from 3^rd century B.C.E and around 58 parts of the Bharhut Stupa that belong to 2^nd century B.C.E.
The museum has an abundant collection of miniature paintings from Rajasthani, Pahari , Mughal and Company School of Arts.
Museum has a special gallery with personalia collection, original manuscripts and letters of yesteryear luminaries from the literature world like: Sumitranandan Pant, Mahadevi Verma, Nirala, Premchand etc.
The Gandhi gallery in the museum is a beautiful collection of rare pictures of Gandhi and his epic life.
While the Nehru gallery asserts all of Nehru’s Personalia Collection: The Gifts, Wedding Card, Letters, Historic Documents specially his original – unpublished handwritten autography ‘In and out of Prison’.
The museum’s library has a huge collection of 25,000 books, including rare – translated works of ancient Roman and Greek scholars.