[6] The museum was constructed by the British to conserve and display the historical artifacts found in the vicinity of the state capital.

[8] Items on display in the multipurpose museum include archaeological objects, coins, art objects, paintings, instruments, textiles, paintings, thankas, bronze images and sculptures and terra cotta images by Hindu and Buddhist artists.

[13][14] Rahul Sankrityayan donated 10,000 manuscripts that are written in gold and silver on handmade papers and books on Buddhist philosophy that were once in the library of ancient Nalanda and Vikramshila universities.

Beginning November 2009, a project was started to build a replacement museum in Patna to enable the display of larger collections.

[15][16] In August 2023, cabinet of Bihar Government approved the construction of heritage tunnel at the revised cost of ₹ 542 crore.