Government Museum, Chennai
The Government Museum, Chennai, or the Madras Museum, is a museum of human history and culture located in the Government Museum Complex in the neighbourhood of Egmore in Chennai, India. Started in 1851, it is the second oldest museum in India after the Indian Museum in Kolkata. It is particularly rich in archaeological and numismatic collections. It has the largest collection of Roman antiquities outside Europe. Among them, the colossal Museum Theatre is one of the most impressive. The National Art Gallery is also present in the museum premises. Built in Indo-Saracenic style, it houses rare European and Asian painting of renowned artists, including that of Raja Ravi Varma. It had 0.6 million visitors in 2018. It has the richest collections of bronze idols, 500 of them dating to 1000 BCE, in Asia. Location The museum is located in what is known as the Pantheon complex, or "public assembly rooms." It is located in the Government Museum Complex on Pantheon Road in Egmore. The road on which the museum is located too takes its name from the complex. The Government Museum Complex also houses the Connemara Public Library and the National Art Gallery. History In August 1778, the governor of