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The Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, India. On June 2nd and 3rd 2008, I was conducted my research on this site. I come from a multicultural family who always appreciated both the visual and perceptual meaning of art. When I was growing up, my family would encourage us (me and my younger siblings) to acknowledge the concept and beauty of the efforts that one expressed in their collection, whatever it may be. That has inspired me so much that I paint as well as sketch, from time to time when I can. I have been doing so for over ten years now, which has led me to the history and collections of this site.
Chandigarh, India is known for being the dream city of the first Prime Minister, Sh. Jawaharlal Nehru, and planned by his architect, Le Corbusier. Chandigarh is the capital for two states, Haryana and Punjab. But this country is to be considered as a Union Territory, and is administered by the government. Chandigarh is well known for its modern architecture and well-designed landscaping, which became an up rise to the 20th Century. The museum was established back in August 1947, which many fine collections of art were once house at the Central Museum in the capital of Punjab.
By April 1949, the divisions of collections took place, and were disseminated to the cities of not only Chandigarh, but also Amritsar, Shimla and Patiala. The museum has four wings which are comprised of The Art Gallery, Natural History Museum, and Chandigarh Architecture Museum & The National Gallery of Portraits. The museum’s welcome page has vibrant colors and clear images of the collections available provide the user with tabs that can direct them to the section of their choice (whether it is from sculpture to contemporary art to dinosaur artifact and so on).
The Copyright for the website is dated to 2005-2006, and the author is listed as the main title of the site “Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, India”. The site also provides the user a detailed history of the museum, upcoming events, two shops available (from items such as Handy Guides to Fibre Glass Models), and how to coordinate your trip with directions attached. The price of attending the museum is rather reasonable, entry fee is 10 Rupees and Camera fee is 5 Rupees, which transferred to American Dollars is about 0. 4 cents and 0. 12 cents (One American Dollar = 42. 63 Rupees). Two of the particular sections I was interested in the most were the Gandhara Sculpture and the Manuscript Section. The Gandhara section encloses a detailed history of the Buddha (history dated back from 323 B. C. all the way to the 8th Century A. D. ) and enriches the eye of others with authentic sculptures dated back to as early as the 2nd Century. One of the Gandhara sculptures that caught my eye was the Bust of the Buddha Schist stone c 2nd Century A. D.
I can see the detail of the robe across the chest and the fine areas of both facial and physical features that are so intricate. I noticed also how preserved the sculpture was considering the age. The second section that caught my eye was the Manuscript Section. The Manuscript Section describes how it is considered, “An important documentary source for the history of India, apart from inscriptions”. It then explains how the manuscripts collection ranges from Brahmanical, Jaina to Buddhist, Islamic and Sikh; and most of the manuscripts are dated back from the 16th and 18th Century.
One particular manuscript that interests me was the Panchraksha, Paper, c. 18th Century A. D. , Nepal. I noticed the detail of the gold that has put into the drawing along with strong colors of red, blue, green and pearl. I also see how intricate the gold was put into what appears to be a scripture and shaded around it with a faded cloudy blue and gray. It was amazing to see the clarity of the piece. I believed that this site was rather informative and functional with the history on each of the sections and clear description of highlighted pieces of art.
I don’t feel that this site should have any changes since it was very user-friendly. The sections were very clear to see along with the text and colors. This research has brought me greater interest in appreciating more fine art as if I was physically there. I feel that the audience that can be brought to this site can be anyone who can either admire or acknowledge the history of the preserved pieces. Works Cited “Manuscript Section” Panchraksha, Paper, c. 18th Century A. D. , Nepal. The Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, India. 2 June 08. http://chdmuseum. nic. in/manuscript_section/images/buddhist_large. jpg “Gandhara Sculpture Section” Bust of the Buddha, Schist Stone, c. 2nd Century A. D. , Gandhara. The Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, India. 02 June 08. http://chd. museum. nic. in/art_gallery/images/budhaimage003. large. jpg References http://chdmuseum. nic. in/about_museum. html http://chandigar. nic. in/knowchd_general. htm http://www. indiatravelite. com/chandigarh/aboutchandigarh. htm