The Bangladesh National Museum was originally established on 20 March 1913, albeit under another name (the Dhaka Museum). It was formally inaugurated on 7 August 1913 and was accorded the status of the national museum of Bangladesh on 17 November 1983. It is located at Shahbag, Dhaka. The museum is 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. Both in number and uniqueness, the Museum is extremely rich in stone, metal and wooden sculptures, in gold, silver and copper coins, in stone inscriptions and copperplates and in terracottas and other artifacts of archaeological interest.
The Museum has one of the largest collections of arms and armour in the Indian subcontinent. Quite fascinating are its collections of decorative art, especially of woodwork, metalwork and embroidered quilts. It has items of natural history and ethnographic interest. The Museum is noted for its collection of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin and works of other contemporary artists. The Museum also illustrates the freedom struggle culminating in the liberation of Bangladesh.
The museum premises is surrounded by different types of trees. On both sides of the entrance of the building there are two historical canons. The building is a four storied building. The ground floor of the building consists of some old guns at the entrance and the hall where the people book their tickets or assemble to hear the history of the museum. The hall leads to a grand staircase. Beside the hall, there is a smaller room which also acts like the hall (it is also used by the guides to tell the visitors about the history) and a simple staircase. The 1st floor is divided into 22 rooms. The first room displays a large map showing the map of Bangladesh and its 64 districts. The 2nd room consists of an undergoing work of a large statue of a royal Bengal tiger. These rooms consist of natural beauties found in Bangladesh. In one of the room there is showcase of a tongue of a whale. 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.
The 2nd floor consists of photos of famous people and showcases the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Language Movement of 1952. There are posters used in the war, a torture machine and much more. There are also two libraries. The 3rd floor consists of pictures of international politicians, artists, scientists, famous pictures and four international galleries - Chinese, Korean, Iranian and Swiss. Bangladesh National Museum is a popular place to visit. The museum is open for all throughout the week except Thursday. Much crowd is seen here on weekly holidays and National days. Three different visiting hours are scheduled in three different seasons in a year. These seasons are Summer, Winter and the month of Holy Ramadan. The museum remains open as per the following schedule:
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