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Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh is one of the premier institution of India with a very rich collection of Gandharan sculptures, Pahari and Rajasthani miniature paintings. Before the partition of India and Pakistan the collection of art objects, paintings, sculptures and decorative arts, were housed in the Central Museum, Lahore the then capital of Punjab.
Now after partition the collection consisting mainly of Gandharan sculptures and Indian miniature paintings ( Mughal and Pahari schools) fell in the share of India. Received in the month of April, 1949, this collection was first housed in Amritsar then Shimla, Patiala and finally shifted to Chandigarh.
The Government Museum and Art Gallery was designed by the Swiss born French architect, Le Corbusier along with his associate architects namely Manmohan Nath Sharma, Pierre Jeanneret and Shiv Dutt Sharma. The design was completed during the period of 1960-62 and construction took place between 1962 and 1967.
It is part of the three museums designed by Le Corbusier, the other two being Sanskar Kendra, Ahmedabad and National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo.
The building is a museum and art gallery which regularly conducts art acquisition programs for expansion. Envisaged as a vehicle for transmission of knowledge in the Second Five Year Plan and the National Education Policy, it serves as a unique cultural and historical resource for the region. Having significant collection of Gandhara sculptures, Pahari miniature painting and contemporary Indian art, it is regularly visited by tourists, artists, scholars and students. Researchers, architects and scholars on Le Corbusier and Modernization are also frequent visitors to the building and its surrounding.
They ensemble to study its architectural values as it represents the series of museums designed by Le Corbusier. The pivoted entrance, metal panelled door, fixed furniture, display systems, exposed concrete sculpturesque gargoyles are symbolic of the prevailing style of Chandigarh's architecture. The mural in the museum reception area executed by one of India's finest contemporary artists, Satish Gujral adds colour to the otherwise stark exposed concrete building.
The museum serves as a means of repository of cultural history of the region. The museum library is a rich repository of books on subjects of art, architecture and history of art. A special section is dedicated to Dr. M. S. Randhawa, containing archival records of his correspondence on the Making of Chandigarh, available to scholars in a digitized version. The adjacent auditorium serves as a lecture hall for extended activities of the museum such as lectures, film screenings and cultural events. The interior detailing of the auditorium represent the Modernist tradition that was introduced in Chandigarh by Le Corbusier.
The beginning of the collection can be traced to the partition of India in 1947 when 40% of the collection of the Central Museum, Lahore became the share of the country.
Bodhisattva Maitreya, c. 2nd century AD, Gandhara in chandigarh museum
A significant part of this share was the Gandhara sculptures. The collections received in April, 1949 from Pakistan were first housed in Amritsar, then Shimla, Patiala and were finally shifted to Chandigarh upon the inauguration of the museum in 1968.
Hariti, c. 2nd century AD, Gandhara
Over a period of time, Dr. M. S. Randhawa added Pahari miniature paintings, modern and Indian contemporary art, so that by the time the collection was displayed in the current building designed by Le Corbusier, it was at par with the leading museums of North India. The collection can be divided into the following categories.
Buddha and other divinities, c. 2nd century, Gandhara at chandigarh museum
