Mount Abu Government Museum
The only hill station in western and central India – Mount Abu in Rajasthan has been a center of cultural activity since the prehistoric period. It was the capital of the Parmars in 13th century AD and later on came under the Chauhans.
Mount Abu huddles among the rocks on a 1,220-m granite table mountain at the far southwestern end of the Aravalli hills. It is built around a lake and is surrounded by forested hills.
Located on the complex of Raj Bhawan, the museum was established in 1962. It has a good collection of archaeological excavations dating back to 8th-12th century A.D. It also has Jain bronze carvings,brassworks, historic objects associated with this region. etc. for viewing.
Different Sections of Mount Abu Museum
Gallery of Weapons, ornaments and Musical Instruments
The first section has been adorned by a diorama of local tribal hut with their usual living style by adding a gallery of weapons, musical instruments, ladies ornaments like ‘barly’, ‘damani’, ‘karna’, ‘guthma toda’, ‘gaga wala thoomar’, ‘kanksi berla’ and various types of earrings and garments etc. belonging to hill dwellers.
Series of Miniature Paintings
The second section has a series of miniature paintings based on raga-raginis, lain images from Sirohi, medium sized shields, a small canon called ‘Topdi’ and some pieces of carvings on local wood.
The notable collection of this museum, is the finely carved out statues of Devdasi or Nartakis (Dancer).
There is an image of the Chakrabahu Shiva having a ‘trishul’ (trident) in one hand and a ‘khadag’ in the other and sitting on Nandi, the bull. On each side of Shiva are dancing girls.
Sculpture Gallery Section
In the Abu collection consisting of 404 sculptures, the most distinctive exhibit is the Vish Kanya (snake goddess), which is 3 feet high. It is shown breast-feeding a snake. The figures are well executed and the attitudes are impressive and natural. It also has the Surya (8th century AD) found in Achalgarh, the Shiva (10th century AD) brought from Dilwara temple, the Chanvar Vahini and Laxmi (12th century AD) also from Chandravati and Chanmunda (8th century A D).
The Sculpture Gallery has some memorial inscriptions collected from nearby areas e.g. Chapa’s inscription, (local heroine of Achalgarh).
Other Tourist Attractions in Mount Abu
Mount Abu is also well known for the famous Dilwara Jain Temples, Gurumukh Temple, Nakki Lake and many more archaeological remains.
There are interesting treks and picnic spots, romantic royal retreats of the various erstwhile families of Rajputana period.
The scenic landscapes include gigantic blocks of rocks in weird shapes, an array of coniferous trees, flowering shrubs, lovely lakes and the cool climate much in contrast to the arid environs of the state.