Chhauni Museum: The National Museum of Nepal

One of Kathmandu’s most popular museums, Chhauni Museum, has wonderful historical collections divided into three main historical collections, each housed in a separate building.

The National Museum of Nepal, founded in 1928 as an arsenal museum, is located on the way to Swayambhunath hill. The museum is housed in a historical structure designed by General Bhimsen Thapa in the early nineteenth century. The museum was originally named Chhani Sikhana, which translates as “the stone house of arms and ammunitions,” and it is still known as the Chhauni museum.

While entering its premises, the building on the left is the Art Gallery, one on the right is the Museum of NATURAL History, whereas moving straight ahead, you will enter the Buddhist Art Gallery.  These collections allow visitors to relive history.

In 1938, then-Prime Minister Juddha Sumsher JBR opened the museum to the public. Not only were Nepalese allowed to visit the museum for free, but a building for an art museum was built and named after the founder, Juddha Jatiya Kalashala. The museum was renamed Rashtriya Sangralaya, or the National Museum of Nepal, only after 1967.

Previously, the museum was occasionally visited by foreign scholars or dignitaries, as well as guests of the Rana Prime Minister. In 1995, the Japanese government donated funds to the National Museum of Nepal to hold an exhibition of Buddhist Religious Art. The exhibit educated people about Buddhism through amazing works of art, and it aided in the research and preservation of Buddhist artefacts.

The museum houses an extensive collection of Nepali history and culture spanning generations. It houses a number of collections, including a doll collection, coins from the second century BC, stuffed animals, relics from the 1934 earthquake, and Nepali weaponry. Visitors can see how Nepali weaponry looked in the past and throughout various periods. The leather cannon from the Tibetan war period, which occurred in 1792, is one of the museum’s most popular exhibits.

The National Museum of Nepal is a wonderful collection of Nepal history that includes relics from Nepal’s most devastating earthquake, religious artefacts from Buddhism, and weaponry used in Nepal during and before/after wars. Except on Sunday, Mondays, and holidays, the museum is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm.

Compiled By: Nikita Gautam

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