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Bangladesh National Museum Photo by Motiur Rahman Oni

Top 10 Remarquable Facts about Bangladesh National Museum

The Bangladesh National Museum is the national museum of Bangladesh. The museum has been  well organized and displays have been housed chronologically in several departments like department of ethnography and decorative art, department of history and classical art, department of natural history, and department of contemporary and world civilization.

The museum also has a rich conservation laboratory. Nalini Kanta Bhattasali served as the first curator of the museum during 1914–1947.The museum was originally established in  1913, albeit under another name (the Dhaka Museum), and formally inaugurated on 7 August 1913 by Thomas Gibson-Carmichael. He was the first Baron Carmichael, the governor of Bengal.

In 1915 it was handed over to the Naib-Nazim of Dhaka Bangladesh National Museum, which  was formed through the incorporation of Dhaka museum . it was made the national museum of Bangladesh on 17 November 1983. It has been  located at Shahbag, Dhaka.

These are  Top 10 Remarquable Facts about Bangladesh National Museum

1. The Bangladesh National museum first floor  is divided into 22 rooms

The first floor has been  divided into 22 rooms. The first room displays a large map showing the map of Bangladesh and its 64 districts. While  the second room consists of an under going work of a large statue of a royal Bengal tiger.

Also the  third- tenth rooms consist of natural beauties found in Bangladesh. In one of the room there is showcase of a tongue of a whale.

And 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.

2. It is the largest museum in south Asian countries

Bangladesh National Museum Photo by Motiur Rahman Oni

The museum is not only in Bangladesh but also in South Asian countries. It has very noticeable architectural design in its four-storied building. The area of this building is 20 thousand square meters, which has more than 83 thousand patterns in 46 galleries. 

3. The National Museum has a library

The national museum in Bangladesh has a library which has a collection of an estimated of 30 thousand to 40 thousand books. This library has also been playing a special role in research in various fields. Apart from this, there is a Museum Auditorium, which has  been used for various workshops, seminars or meetings.

4. It has a number  of 86,000 exhibits from different disciplines collected 

Sheetal Patti at Bangladeshi National Museum Dhaka photo by Nurunnaby Chowdhury

Bangladesh National Museum is a multidisciplinary museum. Collections from several disciplines such as archaeology, history, ethnography and natural history have been  displayed here. The number of exhibits, from different disciplines collected up to 2009, was 86,000.

5.The first 10 galleries in the museum  are dedicated to the natural heritage of Bangladesh

The collections consist of flora and fauna, such as cereals, pulses, herbal medicines, economically important plants, insects, birds, sea life of the Bay of Bengal, Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest, its spotted dears and the Royal Bengal tiger. Geographical specimens included rocks and minerals, etc. The galleries contain semi-dioramas, dioramas on birds and mammals with their natural habitats.

A large skeleton of a giant whale saw fish, beehive, different types of butterflies and reptiles are the other notable objects of these galleries. Natural history specimens preserved in the departmental store serve as a reference library of the biodiversity of Bangladesh

6.Bangladesh National Museum has a conservation laboratory

Bangladesh National Museum photo by Nahid.rajbd

The laboratory which has been  built in 1975 with a grant of the Ford Foundation. The laboratory which has been  run by trained conservation chemists. It has been further equipped with a Japanese grant, which   is well equipped with modern instruments and chemicals for carrying out all sorts of conservation works.

The laboratory has been established for scientific preservation and restoration treatment .The department  which has been also under takes programmes of controlling humidity, light, temperature and insect pest of the galleries and stores and protect those from insects and pests.

It also organize training, workshops, seminar, specialized lectures on preservation and restoration of antiquities for museum personnel.

7. The National museum launched the virtual gallery

Due to ongoing countrywide lockdown has been going on across Bangladesh . All entertainment hubs have been  closed due to that. In this monotonous life of the epidemic, many are looking for relief. And many of these people are keeping an eye on the virtual world.

Visiting various monuments of history and tradition of the country. And the whole thing is happening online. People from different parts of the country including Dhaka and even those living abroad are observing in the galleries of the museum.

8.Bangladesh National Museum occupies 8.63 acres of land

Bangladesh National Museum Photo by Motiur Rahman Oni

Bangladesh National Museum is a national institute, focused on collection, preservation, research and interpretative display of historical documents, archaeological artifacts, decorative arts, ethnological materials and specimens of natural heritage of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh National Museum (BNM) which has been  officially known as Bangladesh Jatiya Jadughar. Its owes its origin and growth to the Dhaka museum

The museum is located at Shahbag in Dhaka city occupying 8.63 acres land, with a magnificent building, containing 44 galleries, a large library, three auditoriums and two exhibition halls.

9.There are four other branch museums under the control of Bangladesh National Museum

There are four branch museums under the administrative control and management of Bangladesh National Museum. These are Zia Smriti Museum in Chittagong (1993), Ahsan Manzil Museum in Dhaka (1992), Osmani Museum in Sylhet (1987) and Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Sangrahasala in Mymensingh (1975).

Bangladesh National Museum frequently helps all other museums, private or public, with expertise and other supports as and when requested for.

10. The museum houses three auditoriums and two temporary exhibition halls

Bangladesh National Museum photo by Nahid.rajbd

Various cultural programmes and activities such as music, dance, recital, drama, magic shows, fashion shows, conferences, discussions, seminars, exhibition of paintings, calligraphy, and sculpture have been  being held round the year.

It also plays a pioneer role in children’s education programme by organizing handwriting competition, painting competition, and exhibition of their creative works.