Central Museum Indore
The Central Museum was set up in the Nar-Ratna Mandir in October 1929 A.D. Later, in 1969 it was shifted to a newly constructed building near the Residency Kothi. Presently, the museum has 6 Galleries, namely- the Antiquity Gallery, the Malwa Art Gallery, the Hinglajgarh Art Gallery , the Numismatic Gallery, the Inscription Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Arms Gallery.
Artifacts from the pre-historic to the modern times have been displayed. Exhibits include fossils, stone-age tools, artifacts from the excavations at Mohanjodaro, excavated material from the chalcolithic sites of Malwa including Kaytha, Awra, Maheshwar- Navdatoli, Dangwada and others, besides the terracotta from Kasravad, Shravasti and Kosambi. The important sculptures of this museum are - Saraswati (3rd cent. A.D.), Harihar (5th cent. A.D.), Lakulish (7th cent. A.D.), Shiva Vareshwar, Bhuvaneshwari. Gold, Silver and Copper coins, Janapadiya, Ujjaini, Tripuri, Eran and other coins adorn the Numismatic Gallery.
The Modern Art Gallery houses artworks on Italian marble, China (clay) and Ivory. A Lota (bowl) made of Ivory is the key attraction.
Stone Sculptures belonging to the Shaiva, Shakta, Vaishnava, Jain and Bauddha sects are exhibited in the inner and outer courtyards of the museum.