A treasurehouse of all that is best in museums. Review on Salarjung Museum, Hyderabad

Overview: Salar Jung Museum is, in its own right, a jewel in the crown of the Charminar city, Hyderabad. It is also declared by the Parliament as a monument of national importance.

Brief History: It is actually a museum, where all the artifacts are accumulated by 3 generations: Salar Jung 1, Salar Jung 2 and Salar Jung 3. The last named has the highest contribution. All these collections were from 1800 to 1950. ( I have forgotten the individual life spans).

My impression: More amazing than the history is the collection. The museum has 2 floors, and in each floor, there are several rooms, each with a definite theme. One room is on clocks - here, you can see several hundreds different clocks collected by them from all over the world. Similarly, there is another on weapons, another on utensils. It takes a lifetime to make these collections.

However, 2 attractions stand out. One is the clock, and the other is the veiled Rebecca.

The clock is a wonder of mechanical engineering. It has a small door in its dial, and every hour, one doll comes out (looks like Maharaja of Air India) and strikes the time and goes in. Naturally, 12 noon is the best time to see this.

The other attraction that left me spellbound is veiled rebecca. It is the creation of an Italian sculptor. The sculpture is in marble, and it shows a girl with a veil on her face and shoulders. Unbelievably, all the folds are clearly visible of the veil made of marble. The marble is so thin that one can see her face!