At the corner of Chowringhee and Sudder streets, the stately Indian Museum (Tues-Sun: March-Nov 10am-5pm; Dec-Feb 10am-4.30pm; Rs150 [Rs10]) is the oldest and the largest museum in India, founded in 1814. Built around a central courtyard, the present high-ceilinged building was opened to the public in 1878, and is one of the largest museums in Asia, housing a huge variety of exhibits from sculpture to natural history.

 

Visitors come to the museum in their thousands, many of them villagers who bring offerings to the jadu ghar or "house of magic". The main showpiece is a collection of stone and metal sculptures obtained from sites all over India, which centres on a superb Mauryan polished sandstone lion capital , dating from the third century BC. One gallery houses the impressive remains of the second-century BC Buddhist stupa from Bharhut in Madhya Pradesh, partly re-assembled to display posts, capping stones, railings and gateways all made from red sandstone. Carvings depict human and animal figures, as well as scenes from the Jataka tales of the Buddha's many incarnations. There is also a huge collection of Buddhist schist sculptures, dating from the first to the third century, from the Gandhara region. Relics in the Prehistory Gallery are supposed to be those of the Buddha. You'll also see stone sculpture from Khajuraho and Pala bronzes, plus copper artefacts, Stone-Age tools and terracotta figures from other sites.

Along with an excellent exhibit of Tibetan thangkas , the museum holds Kalighat pats and paintings by the Company School , a group of mid-nineteenth-century Indian artists who emulated Western themes and techniques for European patrons. Finally, there's a spectacular array of fossils and stuffed animals, most of which look in dire need of a decent burial.