This museum was founded in 1857. The area around it has been laid out as a park and zoological garden. The museum has a fine collection in its natural history section. The art collection covers aspects of Kerala's rich heritage in sculptures of stone, wood and metal. The gallery of bronze shows the marked style of Kerala as quite clearly distinct from that of the bronzes of Tamil Nadu where, under the Cholas, bronzes tended to be tall and almost unnaturally slim.
Vishnu Srinivasa (ninth century, Kerala) is one of the oldest pieces in this museum. Later figures of Natarja, various devis and others follow in the same style, with conspicuous jewellery and other elegant details.
Wood sculptures for the adornment of temples are slightly different in plan and design from other temples in India. The plan is often circular for the main shrine, and wooden beams, pillar brackets and tiled roofs are favoured in the wet tropical climate of Kerala. Wood was also used to make huge carved chariots for temple processions, too convey carrying in the museum are richly carved with sculpture and decorative motifs. Kerala still produces some of India's most valuable and handsome wood for carved furniture and sculpture.
Bay Island Driftwood Museum
A Museum to display a unique collection of superior quality driftwood articles of very high artistic value, prepared through a rate and innovative modern art form, is functioning at the scenic village of Kumarakom. A Visitor would find there a huge collection of root sculptures of various shapes and designs.
During her professional tenure in the Andaman & Nicobar archipelago, a dynamic lady school teacher used to pick up pieces of driftwood deposited by the sea in the shores, comprising twisted tree trunks, stumps, roots etc. which had potential for transformation to sculptures with marginal efforts, thanks to the Bay of Bengal prune to frequent cyclones that make the sea turbulent and unpredictable. Every cyclone brought back many things to the shore as it washes away from it. Some of these wood pieces and roots were centuries old, and having drifted across the seas they became more resilient. Having traversed vast distances, what is left of a tree is its sturdiest part which has weathered much inclemency. The picked up pieces were cleansed, dead parts removed, scraped and trimmed to conform to the shape she had in mind. In the course of the process, it so happened, the Natures original designs could come out more forcefully, evocatively and permanently. Many of these pieces closely resemble birds, animals, reptiles, amphibians and fishes. Shaping, scraping, polishing, finishing and preserving are done with fierce dedication.
The admirers and connoisseurs of this rare and innovative form of art frequent the Bay Island Driftwood Museum. The student community finds the art form adopted in the preparation of the exhibits in the museum interesting and educative as the museum inculcates in them the qualities of imagination, creativity, originality and initiation to produce useful articles out of materials normally considered waste.
Napier Museum & Art Gallery
Built in the 19th century, this Indo - Saracenic structure boasts a natural air conditioning system and houses a rare collection of archaeological and historic artifacts, bronze idols, ancient ornaments, a temple chariot and ivory carvings. The use of plastic is banned in the museum premises. Ph: 2318294.A visit to the Napier Museum complex reveals a glimpse of Kerala's rich cultural heritage. An exceptional piece of architecture, the Museum is named after the former Madras Governor General John Napier. The Napier Museum is also called the Government Art Museum. The Museum building is a combination of the Kerala, Mughal, Chinese and Italian architectural styles. The Shree Chitra Art Gallery features a rare collection of paintings by Raja Ravi Varma and Roerich among others, and fascinating works from the Mughal, Rajput and Tanjore schools of art. An oriental collection consisting of paintings from China, Japan, Tibet and Bali offers a visual treat and are a tribute to the art and culture of these countries.
Archaeological Museum
The Archaeological Museum was until recently accommodated in the Thrissur Town Hall building. Now it has been shifted to the Kollengode Palace, an architectural delight. The majestic building houses a gallery of murals from all over Kerala and preserves a rare treasure of Veerakallu, temple models, olagrandhangal (manuscripts on dry palm leaves), megaliths etc.
Veerakallu or herostones are stone engravings and sculptures of figures and weapons belonging to the heroes of days gone by. Most of these were recovered from the forests of Wayanad and Thrissur.
The megalith collection includes earthen pots, urns etc. The temple models cast in plaster of Paris are excellent representations of the ancient temples in the State.
Pazhassiraja Museum
The Pazhassi Raja Museum, located at a distance of 5 kms from Kozhikode at East Hill, houses a veritable treasure trove for historians and connoisseurs of art.
The museum is under the surveillance of the Archaeological Deparment of the State. The museum and the art gallery are named after the great Pazhassiraja Kerala Varma of the Padinjare Kovilakom of the Kottayam Royal Family.
The famous 'Pazhassi Revolt' (against the British East India Company during the second half of the 1700s) was led by Pazhassiraja.
Nicknamed the 'Lion of Kerala', Pazhassiraja is also credited with introducing guerilla warfare in the hills of Wayanad to resist the increasingly intolerable British colonialism. This great freedom fighter was shot dead in an encounter on 30 November 1805 AD.
Display Sections
The Displayed Antiques
On display in the museum are ancient murals, antique bronzes and coins, megalithic relics such as diamond cysts, temple miniatures and umbrella stones.