Patna Museum Catalogue- Terracottas and Metal Images

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Patna Museum is an important academic institution of higher learning and a centre of dessimination of knowledge. The Museum, established in the year 1917, possesses extremely rare and valuable antiquites and art objects and occupies a very prominent position as a repository of ancient Indian culture and tradition. It is our duty to provide maximum information about the museum's collection to the people through various publications, such as, guide-books, monographs, brochures, picture-books, bulletins, journals, catalogues, etc. Thus, we have planned to bring out various publications to aware the people about our Vireisat (heritage). In this chain, the publication of a catalogue of art and archaeological objects is very important for the people particularly for the scholarly world. Under this scheme, "Patna Museum Catalogue : Terracottas and Metal Images" is in your hands.

Originally, Dr. Stella Kramrisch, a French scholar, compiled the Patna Museum Catalogue of stone sculptures, metal images, terracottas and some minor antiquities and submitted it in March, 1939. But for various reasons it remained without printing till 1965. Dr. P. L. Gupta, after joining the Patna Museum as a Curator in the year 1963, took the matter. He revised the catalogue and got it published in 1965 with the title " Patna Museum Catalogue of Antiquities". It had run out of print several years ago. So, it was decided to publish the catalogue in a new revised form. For this, the informations and details were throughly revised. We tried to our best to make it up-to-date as far as possible by adding to it some new and important material.

In the present circumstances, it was decided to publish the catalogue in a new revised form. It was divided into two separate books—"Patna Museum Catalogue : Terracottas and Metal Images" and secondly " Patna Museum Catalogue : Stone Sculptures and Other Antiquities"

Bihar had been the nuclear of activities of the two great religious leaders Buddha and Mahavira. It was the centre of the two great Empires of the Mauryas and the Guptas. Here flourished the great universities of Nalanda and Vikramasila. As such the region of Bihar is full of cultural remains. But the ancient objects, which came to light during the last century and the early part of this century, were sent to Calcutta to be housed there in the Indian Museum; Bihar then formed the part of the province of Bengal. So, the people of this region, had hardly any opportunity to know their ancestral heritage. Therefore, a great necessity of a Museum of their own was being badly felt by them since long; but itcould not materialize till Bihar and Orissa were separated from Bengal.

This separation took place in 1912 and a new province of Bihar & Orissa came into existence and Patna was made its capital; then some eminent scholars and distinguished citizens of this new province, mooted the idea of starting an institution for housing and • displaying the antiquities of the province and for doing researches on them. The discovery of the multi-pillared Mauryan palace at Kumrahar in the excavations of 1913, gave impetus to the idea; and a resolution to this effect was passed at the first meeting of the Bihar & Orrisa Research Society in January 1915. To give concrete shape to the resolution, its sponsors started collecting the objects of archaeological interest.

The objects thus collected were housed in the Commissioner's bungalow at the first instance. Later in about 1917 they were moved to the north wing of the Patna High Court building and the Museum was formally established. Later in 1928, a new building was constructed for the Museum where the collection is now housed. *From Patna Museum Catalogue of Antiquities, 1965, Edited by Dr. Parmeshwari Lal Gupta, the then Curator of Patna Museum.