[14] In her installations for the National Museum, this desire for secularisation and democratisation was effected through the presentation of sculptures in classic white-cube spaces with minimal contextual information.

Harmonious colour schemes, dramatic, dim lighting, cushions of space around eye-level objects, and the occasional leafy plant for a visual pause, all contributed to the creation of a modern museum.

[20] The current building of the National Museum was designed by the architect Ganesh Bikaji Deolalikar, and the foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 12 May 1955.

For the third and final phase, a foundation stone was laid on 18 December 2017, and involves the razing down of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) building which has been moved to Dharohar Bhawan.

[22] Most famous among the objects is the Dancing Girl[23] made in Bronze, which belongs to the early Harappan period, Skeleton excavated from Rakhigarhi in Haryana, Terracotta images of Mother Goddess and Clay Pottery.

Apart from these the gallery has Sculptures in Bronzes & Terracotta, Bone Objects, Ivory, Steatite, Semi-Precious Stones, Painted Pottery and Jewellery items.

[7] Considering that the major sites like Mohenjo Daro and Harappa belonged to Pakistan post-Partition, the collections in this gallery also grew out of the discoveries of the excavations made after the Indian independence in 1947 such as Daimabad, Rakhigarhi, and Dholavira.

The Buddhist Art Section is mostly known for the sacred relics of Buddha (5th–4th century BC) unearthed from Piprahwa, Siddharthnagar district, in Uttar Pradesh,[19] which yielded caskets with fragments of bone, along with ornaments, figures and precious stones.

Key highlights of the collection include: In this gallery, there are many large sized well-lit transparencies on show which are narrating the development of various Indian Scripts and Coins.

Renovated to present information in a unique and accessible way, the gallery features a striking layout that juxtaposes the sculptures with detailed descriptions providing context, significance and production processes of the objects.

Svachchhanda Bhairavi showcases the skill of the metal smith of Chamba and Vishnu Vaikuntha testifies to the high level of craftsmanship of Kashmiri artists.

Tanjore paintings, named after the ancient town of Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu employ real gold and silver foil, precious and semiprecious stones, beads, mirrors, and powdered metals besides the use of primary colours- red, green, blue, black and white to depict key figures.

This gallery exhibits traditional artefacts such as dresses, apparels, headgears, ornaments, paintings, basketry, wood carvings, smoking pipes and articles of personal adornments of various tribal groups.

The collection on display in the Musical Instrument Gallery was donated to the museum by Padamshree (Late) Mrs. Sharan Rani Backliwal, India's Sarod Maestro.

Various objects on display are a palanquin from the Santhal community, scroll paintings from West Bengal, textiles such as Phulkaris from Punjab and bronze sculptures from Bastar, besides terracotta works and basketry.

[32][33] The National Museum, in collaboration with UNESCO, National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) and Saksham, launched a new permanent gallery for Persons with Disabilities in the year 2015 which features tactile replicas of 22 objects from the collections of the museum as well as an audio guide, ramps and descriptive labels in Braille; the gallery encourages visitors to 'touch' and feel the objects on display.

The Replicas exhibited in the space have been made by the National Museum Modeling department headed by Hemant Tomar and his colleagues and the gallery has been designed by Amardeep Labana,[34] with a special emphasis on dimensions.

[36] It was initially looked after by the Director General of Archaeology until 1957, when the Ministry of Education, Government of India, declared it a separate institution and placed it under its own direct control, following this shift the museum began to significantly increase both its staff and its collections using funds from the Art Purchase Committee.

[37] The first wave of collecting for the National Museum started in 1948 and which lasted around 1952, drawing heavily on scholars like V. S. Agarwala, Moti Chandra, Rai Krishnadas, Karl Khandalavala and their personal relationships with private collectors.

Funding for mass collecting was granted by Parliament from 1947 but this first acquisition period is marked by lack of descriptive detail, quantifiable data, parameters surrounding the criteria of selection.

In recent years, according to a Standing Committee on Transport, Culture and Tourism query, the number of collections added to the National Museum was a total of 2269 objects during the period of 1994–2010.

More than hundred objects have been photographed and their descriptions are available on the Google Art Project website under the name of National Museum, New Delhi, which has given a high reach to online visitors for the collection.

In a response by the then Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment and Tourism, Selja Kumari in a written reply to Parliament said that the ratings and findings of the report were invalid since the no.

[45][46] This exhibition presented thematic variations by showcasing the chronological progression, and the diverse visual elements, which show the continuing and dynamic cultural and artistic relationships shared by the two countries.

The connection between the two nations was traced through the idea of navigation, orientation and mobility of people, goods, and belief patterns, which facilitated in the processes of cultural transmission and localization of icons, texts and artistic activities.

These were based on the concepts of the unified cosmological symbolism, divine patronage and spiritualism, marked by the creation of prominent architectural edifices, including temples and stupas.

This proliferation of cultural exchanges, evident in the quest for spiritual awakening and learning, led to the dissemination of symbols, rituals, yogic practices oral traditions and belief systems.

[46] A special focus was on the Tai ethnic groups residing in Northeast India, who are also are scattered through much of mainland Southeast Asia and parts of China, as their lifestyles and traditions help in tracing the contemporary dynamic paths of cultural exchanges in the modern times.

Photographs from the field documentation conducted by the curatorial team of the Museum in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, which were on display, highlighted the similarities in Buddhist architectural edifices.

[46][47] There were almost a hundred and fifty objects on display that emphasized on aspects of the shared heritage and artistic linkages of Indo-Thai spheres from ancient to modern times.