Essays

Last month I visited the museum in Baroda called the Maharaja Sayaji rao Gaekwad museum. It was a great experience. I had gone with my history teacher and some classmates from school.

The museum was built by the Maharaja and it has some of the most beautiful pieces of possessions that belonged to the Maharajas of Baroda. There is a gallery which is entirely devoted to vessels and artifacts that come from the east.

China, Japan, Malaysia/ Burma etc. are the countries that the Maharaja had cordial relations with. These Artifacts were ordered from there and some of them came as gifts for the Maharaja.

Apart from these there are statues in metal, silver and some are even gold plated. They are the replicas of some of the buildings that were built in the past by the Maharajas eg-the Kirti Mandir, Khanderg market etc.

The painting gallery exhibits paintings from various parts of the world. There is a three dimensional full length portrait of the late   Maharaja Sayajirao gaewad at the entrance and many paintings byeuropean painters in the art gallery.

The main attraction in the museum for me was the skelton of a whale which was found close to Baroda There are the skeletons of many other birds and animals and this causes one to wonder at the amazing creationof God.

Brocade, silks, garments made out of gold thread, the-old clothes belonging to the queens in the past have been exhibited in beautiful boxes.

However the lights have not been taken care of and often one finds sections of the museum that are ill it and dark. It is obvious that the museum has not bemaintained as well as it deserves to be.

The country has May beautiful museums like the Salarjung museum of Hyderabad, the Archeological museum, the Dolls museum etc. in Delhi and if these are maintained well by the government, they can bring great pride to our country.