The Indian Museum in Kolkata is the largest and oldest museum in India, as well as the ninth oldest regular museum in the world. Established on February 2, 1814, at the Asiatic Society, India’s earliest learned institution, the museum holds national importance as a multipurpose and multidisciplinary center. Dr. Nathaniel Wallich, a Danish botanist, served as its founder curator, laying the foundation for what would become a premier repository of Indian heritage and scientific knowledge.

In 1878, the Indian Museum was moved to its present grand building, which initially housed two galleries. Today, it boasts over sixty galleries covering diverse fields such as Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Geology, Zoology, and Botany, spread across more than ten thousand square feet. The museum preserves and exhibits many rare and valuable specimens of both Indian and trans-Indian origin, making it a vital institution for the study and appreciation of humanities and natural sciences in the Asia-Pacific region.