The collection in the new museum building was opened to the public in 1984 and was formally inaugurated by Braj Kumar Nehru (then-Governor of Gujarat) in 1985.

It is situated on a sprawling campus in the western part of the city in an area dotted with educational and research institutes, and in the vicinity of Gujarat University and L.D.

The wide-ranging sculpture collection is unique, since all the major regional styles of the sub-continent are represented here on the Ground Floor, in Madhuri D. Desai Gallery.

There are also in display 9 portrait statues of distinguished personages from Gujarat during the medieval period, which includes the Solanki king, Jayasimha Siddharaja.

It refers to the Mughal emperor Jahangir's farman prohibiting the killing of animals in his empire during the Jaina festival of Paryushana.

Other exceptional examples on show include, the illustrated manuscripts of the Kalakacharya Katha (c. 1430) in Mandu style, the Matar Sangrahani Sutra (dated 1583), painted by Chitara Govinda, the Shripala Rasa (18th century), and painted Vijnapatipatra from Ahmedabad (dated 1796) in the late Gujarati style; several rare cosmological diagrams called Adhidvipa (c. 1440) and the Jaina Siddha-Chakra-Yantra.

On the 1st floor, eastern wing of the Muni Punyavijayaji Gallery has been designed with a section displaying the Leelavati Lalbhai Wood work Collection.

Initially the collection was formed nearly 1000 years ago and now it is on display with the same objective of understanding the technical and the creative processes of traditional Indian miniature paintings.

This substantial collection is represented here by a display of several dozen exquisite drawings of Indian miniature paintings belonging to various regional schools, between 17th and 19th centuries.

The entire eastern wing on the first floor of Museum building was renovated with the financial assistance received from Ministry of Culture, New Delhi, 2012–2013.