Treasures in the Lahore Museum in Pakistan

Buddha Head Julian

The Fasting Siddhartha

The Ethnological, Arts & Crafts, Coins & Medals, Islamic & Paintings Gallery:

In the next hour we, along with our guide, visited the section of Ethnological gallery, Arts and Crafts, Coins and Medals, The Islamic Section and Paintings gallery. In the first gallery he showed us huge beautiful glass cases. These cases were presenting different cultures and tradition of different parts of the country, like all the provinces, the deserted areas and the Northern areas, including a huge skilled painting showing all four provinces. He told us that historical Jain Temple and Ethnological galleries were added in the late 1960s.

Entering in to the Arts and Crafts area we saw quite a beautiful wooden model of the Kapurtha Mosque which was made by a French architect. This section of the museum has usually wooden models of famous buildings, Buddha and various real-looking wild creatures starring wildly at its onlookers. Our guide also knew the makers of these beautifully-made models. A rich collection of nearly 50,000 coins in gold, silver, copper bullion and other metals are also displayed in the Coins and Medals area. The periods which they represent include Greek Bactrian, Indus Greek, Scythian, Krishna, Romans, Parthian, Sassanian, Hun, Delhi Sultanate, Mughal, Durrani, Sikh, British, etc.

The Islamic collection consists of miniature paintings, calligraphy, manuscripts and various kinds of crafts including arms, carpets, shawls, ceramics, jewelery, paper mache', notable manuscripts of the 10th century's Holy Quran in Kufi script, Safavid sword, wooden door and many other rare artifacts. In the contemporary paintings gallery collection the specimen of Ustad Allah Bakhsh, Abdur Rehman Chughtai, Guljee, Ali Imam, Anna Molka Ahmad, Zain-ul Abidin and other eminent artists are displayed. At the end of our tour of history the thing we should have seen right after entering the main hall of the museum we saw at the end.

In the miniature paintings gallery, as one lifts his head up one can observe the mural painted on the ceiling by our great artist, Sadequain. Once again it was difficult to understand this painting because of our science mind, so our guide explained that it is based on poet Iqbal's verses evoking the spirit of man to triumph over odds. It depicts man's search for knowledge and ultimate triumph. According to our guide, Sadequain painted the ceiling in 1973, living and working in the building for six months. Sadly, while working on his second ceiling at the Freer Hall in Karachi, the painter took ill and died leaving the work incomplete.

Sadequain's Ceiling Art

The Mystic World Of Museum:

A visit to the Lahore Museum is an experience in itself and offers to the visitor a plethora of knowledge of our culture and history. After having this unforgettable tour it now seems as if we know everything about history. It is indeed this mystical effect of the museum that we cannot forget our history.

Everything here has a hidden meaning behind it whether it's the enchanting architecture of the museum or its spell casting look, whether it's those attractive portraits or the grace and proud on the kings, whether its those ancient weapons or their modern counterparts, whether it's the courage of Tipu Sultan or the intelligence of Quaid-e-Azam, whether its the poetic spell of Allama Iqbal or its effect on the Martyrs, whether it's the highly skilled works of our craftsmen or thought provoking paintings by eminent painters, whether it's the magical effect of religions or the mysterious myth telling stones, each and everything here has a story to tell. And that story is preserved in the small but a big building of the museum until the end of the history itself.