Dogra Art Museum

A cultural heritage art gallery located in the wintery state of Jammu in Jammu and Kashmir, Dogra Art Museum houses several exhibits some of which are centuries old and showcases a rich collection of the famous Pahari miniature paintings from Basohli.

About the Museum

Located in the beautiful state of Jammu, the Dogra Art Museum (formerly known as Dogra Art Gallery) is a government museum and the biggest in the region of Jammu. It is a museum of Dogra cultural heritage housed in the Pink Hall of Mubarak Mandi complex in Jammu and mainly displays a rich assortment of Pahari microcosm paintings from Basohli. Established in 1954, it was previously located in a mini hall at Gandhi Bhavan but was later shifted to its current place in the year 1991.

The museum is a unit of the Directorate of Archives, Archaeology, and Museums, and is administered under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Jammu, and Kashmir Government. The museum building was constructed to commemorate the visit of the British Monarch Edward VII on his visit to Jammu as the Prince of Wales in 1875. The collection of the museum has 7216 objects of historical and cultural significance which includes the Rasmanjari series of the famed Basohli miniature paintings for which the museum is chiefly known for and some rare and antique manuscripts such as a stunningly illustrated Shahnama and Sikandernama in Persian.

Other pieces of attraction in the museum comprise terracotta heads from Akhnoor, numismatics, sculptures, Dogra costumes, arms and armors, jewelry, metal objects, 18th-century paintings of Krishna-Sudama, and artifacts related to decorative arts. A marble jharokha decorated in an intricate manner with inlaid work of semi-precious stones in the marble hall is an exquisite piece that further enhances the charisma of the museum collection. A gold-plated bow owned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and a stone plate with inscriptions written in Takri script are among the most prized assets of the museum. Apart from these exhibits, paper machines, mineral stones, fossils, Baru oil paintings, folk arts, portraits or Jammu rulers, and coins are also showcased in the impressive display of Dogra Art Museum in Jammu Kashmir.