Odisha State Museum - History, Timings & Entry Fee

At a distance of 1.5 km from Bhubaneswar Railway Station, Odisha State Museum is a popular museum in Bhubaneswar. Renowned for its huge collection of manuscripts on palm leaves, this is one of the famous places to visit in Bhubaneswar.

Odisha State Museum was established in 1932 by Prof. N. C Banerjee & Prof. Ghanshyam Das. The museum started with a small display of archaeological treasures from several places. The small museum was then housed within the premises of the College. In 1938, by a suitable order, the Government of Odisha transformed this nucleus into the Provincial museum of Odisha. Today, it houses has an extensive collection of arts and artifacts. It is now maintained by the state government in collaboration with the Archaeological Department of India.

The museum is divided into eleven sections such as Archaeology, Epigraphy, Numismatics, Armoury, Mining & Geology, Natural History, Art & Craft, Contemporary Art, Patta Painting, Anthropology and Palm leaf Manuscripts. The four storey Odisha State Museum houses rich and invaluable collection of Buddhist and Jain sculptures, archeological findings, coins, copper plates, stone inscriptions from ancient and medieval Kalinga, armors, bronze age tools, ancient and medieval tools and weapons, enormous traditional dresses, stuffed animals, natural history, geological objects, paintings, anthropological specimens, traditional folk and musical instruments etc.

The palm leaf gallery is the most attractive one with a vast collection of rare Palm leaf Manuscripts including the 12th century manuscript of devotional poem Gita Govinda. It also has an impressive armour and weapon collection including the personal gun of Late Utkal Gaurava Madhusudan Das, a famous Oriya social reformer.

Timings: 10 AM to 5 PM, Closed on Monday

Entry Fee: Rs.10 for Indians & Rs.100 for Foreigners