Heritage Transport Museum

Breaking the monotony of the museum collection and creating visually incredible spectacles, the Heritage Transport Museum in Gurugram, Haryana showcases the expansion of the Indian transportation system and creates a benchmark for Indian museums by bringing together art, design, and history.

About the Museum

Established in 2013, the Heritage Transport Museum is a dream place for anyone with a passion for vehicles and especially vintage ones. Located in the Bilaspur district of Haryana, the Heritage Transport Museum illustrates the advancement of transportation in India through its impressive and extensive 10 galleries. The museum has set a standard for other museums in India in terms of exhibition design, art, and creating atmospheres that narrate the story of the Indian transportation system through historical drawings, videos, sound, reimagined streetscapes, and specially commissioned modern art.

The galleries in this museum are all constructed around a central atrium which gives the visitors a glimpse of all other galleries while exploring a specific one. Being India's largest private museum, it is sprawled in an area of 100,000 square feet and is the brainchild of Tarun Thakral, the Chief Operating Officer of Le Meridien in Delhi who happens to have a passion for collecting vintage vehicles and all other sorts of instruments related to transport. Despite not being alone under the category of transport museum in India, it is still referred to as one of a kind because it comprises an entire gamut from the pre-mechanized world of palanquins, carts, and carriages, to trams, buses, vans, two-wheelers, rural jugaad transport, maritime, and aviation transport.

The Automotive Gallery in the museum displays the growth of the Indian car industry as well as different cars that have been used here since the inception of motoring. Over 75 vintage and classic cars are exhibited in this section parked alongside a gimmick of a street scene from the yesteryears, offering vintage memorabilia. A vintage petrol pump has also been recreated with the help of paraphernalia of spare parts, while a different segment showcases the role of cars in Bollywood. The Pre-Mechanized Transport Gallery displays all means of transport from the ancient era like horse carriages, carts, Bullock carts, etc., along with decorative objects such as carriage lamps, carbide lamps, palanquins finials. The Two-Wheeler Gallery illustrates the development of two-wheeled transport in India by showcasing bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, and mopeds. Some of the indigenous means of transport are also displayed such as phat-phat, chakhda, jugaad, and Ganesha. Apart from this, the museum has an impressive collection of books and journals in its huge library and also organizes workshops for students to gain a deeper insight into the ancient transportation system of India and how the development took place.