State Museum Lucknow

Located in the modern three storied building in the Prince of Wales Zoological Gardens, the Lucknow State Museum is no doubt an incongruous sight in the vicinity but it is a site worth visiting. Initially this site held collections on Avadh arts and objects related to customs, habits and mythology of India. Eventually its collection grew in number and size to include even the excavated antiquities from Piparahawa, Kapilavastu, where the Lord Buddha was brought up. At present this museum is characterized as a multipurpose museum for showcasing sculpture, bronzes, paintings, natural history and anthropological specimens, coins, textiles and decorative arts. The Lucknow State Museum is situated in a contemporary three storey building at Banarasibagh. It is a multipurpose museum. Its extensive array of collections comprise of sculptures, bronzes, paintings, natural history and anthropological specimens, coins, textiles and decorative arts. It is touted among the oldest museums of the state and richest in the country. It is a good place to see the rich collection of artifacts and memorabilia of which the Numismatic, Handicrafts, Natural history and ethnographic sections of the museum warrant special attention.The Museum has become a centre of Lucknow (Awadh’s) sculpture, bronzes, paintings, natural history, etc. It contains a (c. 1000 BC) Egyptian mummy and a wooden sarcophagus, as well. It is a four-story building.