Kerala History Museum is one of the popular museums in Kerala. The museum is located in Kochi. The museum reflects and in turn enlightens about the rich culture and tradition of the state. Established in the year 1987 Kerala History museum is run by a charitable trust and is also called as the Madhavan Nayar Foundation. The museum is made of granite and is round in shape. This beautifully structured building has a statue of Parasurama, incarnation of Lord Vishnu in its entrance. The museum hosts different departments like the Gallery of paintings and sculptures, miniature art gallery and dolls museum.
Gallery of Paintings and Sculptures
The Gallery showcases various specimens of Indian Contemporary Art that dates back to the last two hundred years. These paintings belong to the Company School of Paintings. The `Matured` Bengal School, The Progressive Artists Group, Indian Abstract Act, Narrative painters, The Symbolic-Mystical Style and so on. The museum has about 200 odd paintings and Sculptures. Currently it features about 75 paintings and sculptures that have been selected from its inventory. The Gallery also displays a mural painting based on the Classical Sanskrit drama `Abhijnanasakuntalam` executed in the traditional Kerala Mural style. The Mural is about 25 ft. long by 5 ft. wide and is one of the largest in Kerala. Some of the paintings displayed her are the works of artists such as Raja Ravi Varma, Mammiyoor Krishnan Kutty Nair and various other artists.
Miniature Art Gallery
Kerala History Museum hosts an art gallery that displays varieties of objects of historical or artistic value. Some of the statues belong to the Neolithic age. These statues are of generally tribal ancestors who dwelled in forests. By having a look at these statues tourists can gather information about the ancient history of Kerala. Some of the famous personalities whose statues are kept here are of Marthanda Varma, the Raja of Travancore, Vasco da Gama, Pazhassiraja, Thunchath ramanujan ezuthachan etc.
Dolls Museum
This Museum has a collection of about a hundred and fifty dolls, which are hand made. These dolls represent different people and customs of India. The dolls represent young men and women, from Gujarat to Nagaland and from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. These dolls symbolize `brides` and `bridegrooms` from various states; dance figures of Indian classical dances as well as folk dances in groups. The dolls in the Indian section do not represent babies, but young people. They are all decked up in conventional costumes.
