Cuddalore

Cuddalore

The Government Museum, Cuddalore was established in the year 1989. A Sculpture Garden in the Museum welcomes the visitors. In this sculputure garden Sivalinga,Nandhi, Vishnu, monkey scuptures, Narashima, Surya andChandikeswara are displayed. The development of Tamil script, dinosaur model and a model of Kali sculpture made of Fibreglass are kept in the entrance of the building.

The stone sculptures like Subramanya, Surya, NavanithaKrishna, Dakshinamurthi, Bhairava, Virabhadra, andSaptamatrika sculptures are best examples to the sculptural wealth of our ancestors. Bronze images ofGanesa, Vishnu, Nataraja, Somaskanda, and Krishna are displayed in the Bronze Gallery.

In the first floor Kattunaickkan Tribal materials, Stone Age tools, Musical Instruments, Agricultural implements of Kalvarayan hill tribes are displayed. Natural History specimens include South Indian Timbers, Fibers, Swan, Bear, Lizard and Snakes. Wood fossils and Ammonite fossils are also on display.

This Museum collection represents history, culture, flora and fauna of the district. Imparting knowledge to researchers, students and public through popular lectures, exhibitions and training programmes form part of educational activities.

Contact Details :

Museum Address :
The Curator,
Government Museum,
No.21, Nehru Sports Stadium,
19, Hospital Road,
Cuddalore - 607 001.

FEW IMPORTANT EXHIBITS :

  • Navanithakrishnan
    Navanithakrishnan

    Period: 18th century AD
    Place: South Arcot District.

    Sculpture is in steatite. The right hand holds a ball of butter while the left is hand is raised. The right leg has been raised which has been resting on a lotus behind a prabha height from pedestal.

  • Virabhadra
    Virabhadra

    Period: 17th Century AD
    Place: Sathiyamangalam, Gingee Taluk, Villuppuram Dt.

    Sculpture in steatite. He is represented as standing on a pair of sandals with a fierce face. He has four hands. His right hand holds sword and arrow, while the left hands hold bow and mace. He usually wears jatamakuta. Daksha stands on his right side with the head of a goat and with the hands folded in worship. He (Daksha) is of small stature, evidently to indicate by contrast the hugeness of Virabhadra.

  • Nagini (woodcarving)
    Nagini (woodcarving)

    Period: 1850 A.D.
    Place: Koyambedu, Chengalpattu Dt.

    Nagini represents a standing posture behind the Decorated Elephant while her hands folded and worship.

  • Sloth Bear
    Sloth Bear

    The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), also known as the labiated bear, is a nocturnal insectivorous bear species found wild within the Indian Subcontinent. The sloth bear evolved from ancestral brown bears during the Pleistocene and shares features found in insect-eating mammals through convergent evolution. Unlike brown and black bears, sloth bears have lankier builds, long, shaggy coats that form a mane around the face, long, sickle-shaped claws, and a specially adapted lower lip and palate used for sucking insects. Sloth bears breed during spring and early summer and give birth near the beginning of winter. They feed on termites, honeybee colonies, and fruits.

    Sloth bears subsist primarily on termites, ants, and fruits. Sloth bears occupy a wide range of habitats on the Indian mainland including wet or dry tropical forests, savannas, scrublands, and grasslands.