Museums of India Static GK: Complete State-Wise List with Years, Founders and Memory Tricks

Introduction

Questions on the Museums of India appear almost every year in the General Awareness section of government exams. The reason is simple: museum questions are factual, short and easy to frame. A single line such as "Salar Jung Museum is located in which city?" or "Which is the oldest museum in India?" can decide one clean mark. Since these facts never change, Museums of India Static GK is one of the highest return-on-effort topics in the entire General Awareness syllabus.

India has more than 1,000 museums today, and the museum movement in the country began with the founding of the Indian Museum, Kolkata, in 1814. From that single institution grew a network of national museums, state museums, archaeological site museums, science centres, war and rail museums, and highly unusual collections such as a museum of toilets and a museum of teak. Examiners pick from all of these, which is why a scattered list is not enough. You need a structured, state-wise view.

This article organises every important museum by state and union territory, with its city, year of establishment and a description of what it is known for. Use it along with the daily practice sets on Static GK quizzes so that recall becomes automatic rather than something you try to force on exam day.

Core Concept Explanation

A museum is a permanent institution that collects, conserves, researches and displays objects of artistic, cultural, historical or scientific value for public education. In India, museums are administered at three levels, and exams often test which authority controls which museum.

• Ministry of Culture, Government of India - controls the National Museum, National Gallery of Modern Art, Indian Museum, Salar Jung Museum, Victoria Memorial Hall and Allahabad Museum, among others.
• Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) - controls about 50 site museums, built next to excavated sites so that antiquities stay where they were found. Examples: Sarnath, Sanchi, Nalanda, Amaravati, Lothal and Red Fort.
• State governments and private trusts - control state museums such as the Assam State Museum, and private institutions such as the Calico Museum of Textiles and the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art.

Some categories repeat so often in exams that they deserve separate attention:

• The three National Museums of India - the National Museum, New Delhi; the Indian Museum, Kolkata; and the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad. This trio is a classic one-mark question.
• Site museums - museums attached to an archaeological site. The Sarnath Museum (1910) is the oldest site museum of the ASI.
• Science centres - run by the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) under the Ministry of Culture; the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum, Kolkata (1959) was India's first science and technology museum.
• Memorial museums - homes and sites converted into museums, such as Gandhi Smriti, Mani Bhavan, Anand Bhavan and Jorasanko Thakur Bari.
• Theme museums - single-subject collections such as rail, aviation, currency, textiles, soil, teak, toilets and dolls.

Four superlatives are asked repeatedly, so lock them in before reading the tables:

• Oldest and largest museum in India - Indian Museum, Kolkata (1814); also the oldest and largest in Asia by collection and the ninth oldest in the world.
• Second oldest museum in India - Government Museum, Chennai (1851), also called the Madras Museum or Egmore Museum.
• World's largest one-man collection of antiques - Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad (1951).
• Largest museum in North-East India - Tripura State Museum, Agartala (1970), housed in the Ujjayanta Palace.

Important Museums of India: Complete Data

The tables below cover museums state-wise and union-territory-wise. Wherever the year of establishment is firmly documented it has been given; a dash means the founding year is not consistently recorded and is therefore unlikely to be asked directly.

Landmark Museums Most Asked in Exams

Museums in Delhi (National Capital Territory)

Museums in Rajasthan

Museums in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand

Museums in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh

Museums in Gujarat

Museums in Maharashtra

Museums in Goa

Museums in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh

Museums in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

Museums in Karnataka

Museums in Kerala

Museums in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Museums in West Bengal

Museums in Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha

Museums in North-East India and Sikkim

Theme-Based and Unusual Museums of India (Quick Recap Table)

Museums by Year of Establishment (Chronological Order)

Memory Tricks and Mnemonics

Trick 1: "KOL-CHEN-TRI" for the Three Oldest Museums

The three oldest museums of India follow a neat 1-2-3 sequence of cities. Remember KOL-CHEN-TRI:

• KOLkata - Indian Museum - 1814 - first
• CHENnai - Government Museum - 1851 - second
• TRIvandrum - Napier Museum - 1855 - third among the very early ones

Memory hook: "Kolkata came first, Chennai came next, Trivandrum came four years later." The years 1814, 1851 and 1855 also increase by roughly 37 and then 4 years, which is easy to recall as a "big jump, small jump" pattern.

Trick 2: "DKH" for the Three National Museums

India has three National Museums. Use the acronym DKH - Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad:

• Delhi - National Museum (1949)
• Kolkata - Indian Museum (1814)
• Hyderabad - Salar Jung Museum (1951)

Sentence to lock it in: "Delhi Ka Hyderabad" - three cities, three National Museums. Note that the Victoria Memorial and Allahabad Museum are also centrally controlled, but they are not counted in the "three National Museums" list.

Trick 3: The "Nehru Opened It" Rule for 1951

Both the National Museum and the Salar Jung Museum have a Nehru connection, which students mix up. Fix the difference with this line: "Rajaji started Delhi, Nehru started Hyderabad."

• National Museum, Delhi - inaugurated 15 August 1949 by C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji); Nehru only laid the foundation of the new building in 1955.
• Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad - opened 16 December 1951 by Jawaharlal Nehru himself.

Trick 4: "WITTET Wrote the Gateway" for Architects

Architect-museum pairs are high-scoring but easy to confuse. Group them by a keyword:

• Wittet - Wales - Gateway: George Wittet designed the Prince of Wales Museum (CSMVS) and also the Gateway of India, both in Mumbai.
• Emerson - Empress: William Emerson designed the Victoria Memorial for Empress Victoria.
• Jacob - Jaipur: Samuel Swinton Jacob designed the Albert Hall Museum in Jaipur.
• Chisholm - Chithira Kerala: Robert Chisholm designed the Napier Museum in Thiruvananthapuram.
• Correa - Culture Complexes: Charles Correa designed Bharat Bhavan (Bhopal), Jawahar Kala Kendra (Jaipur) and Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya (Ahmedabad).
• Corbusier - Chandigarh and Sanskar Kendra: Le Corbusier planned Chandigarh and designed Sanskar Kendra in Ahmedabad.
• Safdie - Sikh heritage: Moshe Safdie designed Virasat-e-Khalsa.
• Deolalikar - Delhi: Ganesh Bhikaji Deolalikar designed the National Museum building.

Trick 5: "KCJHLV" Trick for the Egyptian Mummy Question

Exams love asking which Indian museum has an Egyptian mummy. Remember the chain K-C-J-H-L-V: Kolkata (Indian Museum), Chennai (Government Museum), Jaipur (Albert Hall Museum), Hyderabad (Telangana State Archaeology Museum), Lucknow (State Museum) and Vadodara (Baroda Museum). All six are old colonial-era or princely museums, which is exactly why they received such gifts and purchases.

Trick 6: "Firsts" String for Superlative Questions

Chain the "first and only" museums into one sentence: "Soil in Kerala, Teak in Nilambur, Toilets in Delhi, Tanks in Ahmednagar, Submarine in Vizag, Partition in Amritsar."

• First soil museum - Kerala Soil Museum, Thiruvananthapuram
• World's first teak museum - Teak Museum, Nilambur
• Museum of Toilets - Sulabh International, New Delhi
• Asia's only tank museum - Cavalry Tank Museum, Ahmednagar
• India's first submarine museum - INS Kursura, Visakhapatnam
• World's first Partition museum - Partition Museum, Amritsar
• India's only naval aviation museum - Naval Aviation Museum, Goa
• India's first aerospace museum - HAL Aerospace Museum, Bengaluru
• India's first science and technology museum - BITM, Kolkata
• India's first underground museum - Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum, New Delhi

Trick 7: "Old Name vs New Name" Contrast Pairs

Renamed museums are a favourite trap. Remember them as pairs, old name first:

• Prince of Wales Museum becomes Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (Mumbai, renamed 1998)
• Victoria and Albert Museum, Bombay becomes Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum (Mumbai)
• Victoria Jubilee Museum becomes Bapu Museum (Vijayawada)
• Imperial Museum of Calcutta becomes Indian Museum (Kolkata)
• Madras Museum or Egmore Museum is the same as Government Museum, Chennai
• Nehru Memorial Museum and Library becomes Prime Ministers' Museum and Library, PMML (Delhi, renamed 2023)
• Hyderabad Museum or AP State Archaeology Museum becomes Telangana State Archaeology Museum after the 2014 bifurcation

Trick 8: "Jadu Ghar Twins" for Nicknames

Two museums are locally called Jadu Ghar, and questions exploit this. Use the size rule: "Big Jadu Ghar is Kolkata, small Jadu Ghar is Patna." The Indian Museum, Kolkata is the famous Jadu Ghar or House of Magic; the Patna Museum is also called Jadu Ghar locally. Similarly, Nagpur Central Museum is called Ajab Bangla and the Hazarduari Palace means the Palace of a Thousand Doors.

Additional Notes

Frequently Confused Facts

• Indian Museum vs National Museum: The Indian Museum is in Kolkata (1814) and is the oldest and largest; the National Museum is in New Delhi (1949). Many question banks wrongly place the National Museum in Kolkata - do not fall for it.
• Salar Jung Museum: Andhra Pradesh or Telangana? Older lists still show it under Andhra Pradesh. After the 2014 bifurcation, Salar Jung Museum, Nizam Museum, Birla Science Museum and the state archaeology museum are all in Telangana, at Hyderabad.
• Salar Jung I vs Salar Jung III: The collection was begun by Salar Jung I (Mir Turab Ali Khan) but was mostly built by Salar Jung III (Mir Yousuf Ali Khan), in whose name the museum stands.
• Government Museum, Chennai vs Government Museum, Bengaluru: Chennai is 1851 and second oldest in India; Bengaluru is 1865 and merely one of the older southern museums.
• Napier Museum: 1855 or 1880? The museum was founded in 1855; the present Chisholm-designed building opened in 1880. Exams usually accept 1855 as the year of establishment.
• Didarganj Yakshi: Long displayed at the Patna Museum, it is now in the Bihar Museum (2015). Read the question wording carefully.
• Victoria Memorial vs Victoria Terminus: The Victoria Memorial is a museum in Kolkata; Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) is a railway station in Mumbai. Both are colonial-era landmarks but only one is a museum.
• Site museum vs state museum: A site museum such as Sarnath, Sanchi, Nalanda, Lothal or Amaravati is run by the ASI and stands next to an excavated site; a state museum such as Assam State Museum is run by the state government.
• Two Dolls Museums: Shankar's International Dolls Museum is in New Delhi; a separate International Dolls Museum is in Chandigarh.
• Anand Bhavan vs Swaraj Bhavan: Both are in Prayagraj. Swaraj Bhavan is the older house donated to the Congress; Anand Bhavan is the newer Nehru family residence turned museum.
• Kirti Mandir vs Kaba Gandhi No Delo: Kirti Mandir, Porbandar marks Gandhi's birthplace; Kaba Gandhi No Delo, Rajkot was his childhood home.
• Rakhigarhi vs Lothal: Both have site museums. Rakhigarhi is in Haryana and Lothal is in Gujarat - Lothal is remembered for the dockyard.

Repeating PYQ Patterns

• SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS: Straight location and "oldest or largest" questions - Indian Museum (Kolkata), Salar Jung (Hyderabad), Prince of Wales (Mumbai), Albert Hall (Jaipur), National Rail Museum (Delhi).
• IBPS PO, Clerk, RRB and Insurance exams: Static GK is usually linked to current affairs, so museums in the news - Yuge Yugeen Bharat, Partition Museum, Smritivan, Bihar Museum, Virasat-e-Khalsa - are the safer bets.
• RRB NTPC and Group D: Rail museums, science centres and state museums; the Fairy Queen locomotive is a recurring favourite.
• UPSC Prelims: Rarely a plain location question; instead expects linkage - which site museum belongs to which excavation, which museum holds the Lion Capital, which schools of art are represented at Mathura or Amaravati.
• State PCS exams: Almost always a state-specific museum question - Dharohar for Haryana, Virasat-e-Khalsa for Punjab, Albert Hall for Rajasthan, State Museum Lucknow for Uttar Pradesh, Napier for Kerala.
• Defence exams (NDA, CDS, AFCAT): Service museums such as the IAF Museum at Palam, Naval Aviation Museum, Cavalry Tank Museum, INA War Museum and Jaisalmer War Museum.

Quick Insight

Museums are moving from Static GK into the current-affairs column, so a smart aspirant tracks both. The biggest development is the Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum, planned inside the historic North Block and South Block on Raisina Hill as part of the Central Vista Redevelopment Project. Spread over roughly 1.55 lakh square metres with about 950 rooms, it is intended to be the largest museum in the world, larger than the Louvre, and will replace the present National Museum at Janpath. The Union Cabinet cleared the conversion of the two blocks in February 2026, an agreement for technical cooperation was signed with France Museums Development in December 2024, and the first gallery is expected to open around the end of 2026, with the remaining galleries phased in over the following years. The name means "everlasting India", and the museum is designed around thematic segments rather than a single chronological timeline. Alongside this, the renaming of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library to the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library in 2023 and India's growing list of memorial museums show how museum questions now blend heritage with policy.

Because such items can be framed either as Static GK or as a current-affairs question, revise this topic alongside the daily current affairs updates and test yourself on the current affairs quizzes so that a museum in the news never catches you unprepared.

One-Liners for Quick Revision

Superlatives and Must-Know One-Liners

• Oldest and largest museum in India and Asia - Indian Museum, Kolkata - founded 2 February 1814 by the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
• Founder curator of the Indian Museum - Nathaniel Wallich, a Danish botanist - the museum is ninth oldest in the world.
• Second oldest museum in India - Government Museum, Chennai (1851) - also India's first government-sponsored museum.
• Largest museum in North-East India - Tripura State Museum, Agartala (1970) - housed in Ujjayanta Palace.
• Largest one-man antique collection in the world - Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad (1951) - built by Salar Jung III.
• Three National Museums of India - National Museum Delhi, Indian Museum Kolkata, Salar Jung Museum Hyderabad.
• Oldest site museum of the ASI - Sarnath Museum (1910) - conceived by Sir John Marshall, holds the Lion Capital of Ashoka.
• India's first science and technology museum - Birla Industrial and Technological Museum, Kolkata (1959) - first unit of NCSM.
• Largest interactive science centre in India - Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai.
• Upcoming largest museum in the world - Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum, North and South Blocks, New Delhi.

Delhi One-Liners

• National Museum - Janpath, New Delhi - 1949 - about 2,00,000 objects, Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro.
• National Gallery of Modern Art - Jaipur House, Delhi - 1954 - premier modern-art collection of India.
• National Rail Museum - Chanakyapuri - 1977 - Fairy Queen, the world's oldest working steam locomotive.
• National Museum of Natural History - Delhi - 1972 - destroyed by fire in 2016 and being rebuilt.
• National Science Centre - Delhi - interactive science museum under NCSM.
• National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum - Pragati Maidan - also called the Crafts Museum.
• Nehru Memorial Museum and Library - Teen Murti Bhavan - renamed Prime Ministers' Museum and Library (PMML) in 2023.
• Teen Murti Bhavan - 1930 - Nehru's official residence for 16 years.
• Gandhi Smriti - Birla House, Delhi - where Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948.
• National Gandhi Museum and Library - Rajghat - Gandhi's relics, letters and khadi collection.
• Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum - Delhi - India's first digital multimedia museum.
• Indian Air Force Museum - Palam - captured Pakistani Sabre jet and vintage IAF aircraft.
• Parliament Museum - Parliament complex - multimedia museum on Indian democracy.
• Sanskriti Kendra Museum - Anandgram, Delhi - everyday art, terracotta and textile museums in one campus.
• Shankar's International Dolls Museum - Delhi - 1965 - founded by cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai, 6,500 dolls.
• Sulabh International Museum of Toilets - Delhi - 1992 - 4,500 years of sanitation history.
• Red Fort Archaeological Museum - inside Mumtaz Mahal of the Red Fort - Mughal arms and calligraphy.
• Kiran Nadar Museum of Art - Delhi and Noida - 2010 - India's first private philanthropic art museum.
• Madame Tussauds Delhi - Connaught Place - wax museum of Indian and world figures.
• Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum - Raisina Hill - 2014 - India's first underground museum.

Rajasthan One-Liners

• Albert Hall Museum - Jaipur - 1887 - oldest museum of Rajasthan, Egyptian mummy, architect Samuel Swinton Jacob.
• City Palace Museum - Jaipur - Sawai Man Singh II Museum with royal costumes and giant silver urns.
• Hawa Mahal Museum - Jaipur - inside the 1799 Palace of Winds.
• Jaigarh Fort Museum - Jaipur - preserves Jaivana, once the world's largest wheeled cannon.
• Jawahar Kala Kendra - Jaipur - designed by Charles Correa on the Navagraha plan.
• Archaeological Museum, Amber - Jaipur - sculptures and inscriptions of the Jaipur region.
• City Palace Museum - Udaipur - Mewar royal collection beside Lake Pichola.
• Bharatiya Lok Kala Museum - Udaipur - Rajasthani puppets and folk art.
• Vintage and Classic Car Museum - Udaipur - 2000 - Mewar royal car collection.
• Umaid Bhawan Palace Museum - Jodhpur - built 1929-1943 as famine relief work.
• Mehrangarh Museum - Jodhpur - palanquins, howdahs and Marwar miniatures.
• Sardar Government Museum - Jodhpur - 1936 - in Umaid Public Gardens.
• Government Museum, Alwar - Alwar City Palace - rare illustrated manuscripts.
• Government Museum, Bharatpur - Lohagarh Fort - Jat-period sculptures and inscriptions.
• Government Museum, Ajmer - Rajputana Museum in Akbar's Daulat Khana.
• Jaisalmer War Museum - Jaisalmer - 1965 and 1971 wars, Battle of Longewala.
• Rajiv Gandhi Regional Museum of Natural History - Sawai Madhopur - 2007 - western-region natural history.

Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand One-Liners

• State Museum, Lucknow - 1863 - oldest and largest museum of UP, has an Egyptian mummy.
• Sarnath Museum - Sarnath, Varanasi - 1910 - Lion Capital of Ashoka, India's National Emblem.
• Government Museum, Mathura - 1874 - Mathura School of Art and the headless Kanishka statue.
• Allahabad Museum - Prayagraj - 1931 - institution of national importance, Bharhut sculptures.
• Kanpur Sangrahalaya - Kanpur - 1999 - galleries on the Revolt of 1857 in Kanpur.
• Bharat Kala Bhavan - BHU, Varanasi - 1920 - miniature paintings and Mughal textiles.
• Anand Bhavan - Prayagraj - Nehru family home turned freedom-movement museum in 1970.
• Swaraj Bhavan - Prayagraj - old Anand Bhavan donated to the Congress, birthplace of Indira Gandhi.
• Jhansi Museum - Jhansi Fort - Rani Lakshmibai and 1857 galleries.
• Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal - Noida - memorial museum for Ambedkar, Phule and Kanshi Ram.
• Ibn Sina Academy - Aligarh - museum of medieval Unani medicine and Islamic science.
• Musa Dakri Museum - Aligarh Muslim University - coins, sculptures and excavated antiquities.
• Forest Research Institute Museum - Dehradun, Uttarakhand - India's leading forestry museum with six galleries.

Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh One-Liners

• Virasat-e-Khalsa - Anandpur Sahib, Punjab - 2011 - designed by Moshe Safdie for 300 years of the Khalsa.
• Partition Museum - Amritsar Town Hall - 2017 - world's first museum on the Partition of 1947.
• Maharaja Ranjit Singh Museum - Ram Bagh, Amritsar - Sikh empire arms and paintings.
• Punjab State War Heroes Memorial and Museum - Amritsar - 45-metre steel sword memorial.
• Gobindgarh Fort - Amritsar - live heritage museum with a warfare museum.
• Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports Museum - Patiala - sports museum at India's premier coaching institute.
• Sanghol Museum - Sanghol, Punjab - Kushan-era Buddhist stupa railings.
• Sikh Ajaibghar - Balongi, Punjab - museum on Sikh history and martyrdom.
• Maharaja Ranjit Singh War Museum - Ludhiana - battle replicas, MiG aircraft and Vijayanta tank.
• Punjab Agricultural University Museum - Ludhiana - Museum of Rural Life of Punjab.
• Punjab Rural Heritage Museum - Ludhiana - farming implements and rural crafts.
• Shaheed-e-Azam Museum - Jalandhar - museum on Bhagat Singh and Punjab's revolutionaries.
• Sardar Bhagat Singh Museum - Khatkar Kalan - his ancestral village, preserves his personal relics.
• Dharohar Museum - Kurukshetra University, Thanesar, Haryana - heritage of the Kurukshetra region.
• Jahaj Kothi Zonal Museum - Hisar, Haryana - in the house of George Thomas, Harappan antiquities.
• Rewari Railway Heritage Museum - Rewari, Haryana - 2002 - Asia's oldest surviving steam locomotive shed of 1893.
• Heritage Transport Museum - Taoru, Haryana - 2013 - India's first comprehensive transport museum.
• Rakhigarhi Indus Valley Civilisation Museum - Rakhigarhi, Haryana - one of the largest Harappan sites.
• Library of Tibetan Works and Archives - Dharamsala, HP - 1970 - founded by the 14th Dalai Lama.
• Shivalik Fossil Park - Saketi, Sirmaur, HP - open-air museum of Shivalik vertebrate fossils.
• Government Museum and Art Gallery - Chandigarh - 1968 - India's share of the Lahore Museum collection, Gandhara art.
• International Dolls Museum - Chandigarh - dolls and puppets at Bal Bhavan.
• Museum of Evolution of Life - Chandigarh - evolution of life through fossils and models.
• Le Corbusier Centre - Chandigarh - museum in the office of the city's architect.
• Dogra Art Museum - Jammu - 1954 - Basohli and Jammu miniature paintings.
• SPS Museum - Srinagar - 1898 - oldest museum of the Kashmir valley.
• Munshi Aziz Bhat Museum - Kargil, Ladakh - 2004 - Central Asian and Silk Route trade artefacts.

Gujarat One-Liners

• Calico Museum of Textiles - Ahmedabad - 1949 - India's premier textile museum, Sarabhai Foundation.
• Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya - Sabarmati, Ahmedabad - designed by Charles Correa.
• Sabarmati Ashram - Ahmedabad - Gandhi's home 1917-1930 and start of the Dandi March.
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial - Ahmedabad - 1980 - in Moti Shahi Mahal.
• Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum - Ahmedabad - 1984 - Jain manuscripts and Indology collection.
• Swaminarayan Museum - Ahmedabad - 2011 - sacred relics of the Swaminarayan Sampraday.
• Sanskar Kendra - Ahmedabad - 1954 - designed by Le Corbusier, includes the kite museum.
• Kite Museum - Ahmedabad - India's only kite museum, from Shambhubhai Shah's collection.
• Gujarat Science City - Ahmedabad - IMAX dome, Robotics Gallery and Aquatic Gallery.
• Conflictorium - Ahmedabad - 2013 - museum built around the theme of conflict.
• Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery - Vadodara - 1894 - blue-whale skeleton and an Egyptian mummy.
• Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum - Vadodara - Raja Ravi Varma works in the Lakshmi Vilas Palace.
• Kirti Mandir - Porbandar - memorial at Gandhi's birthplace with a 79-foot tower.
• Kaba Gandhi No Delo - Rajkot - Gandhi's childhood home named after his father.
• Watson Museum - Rajkot - 1888 - named after the political agent of Kathiawar.
• Kutch Museum - Bhuj - 1877 - oldest museum in Gujarat, largest Kshatrapa inscription collection.
• Aina Mahal - Bhuj - Hall of Mirrors built with the help of Ram Singh Malam.
• Prag Mahal - Bhuj - Italian-Gothic palace with a 45-metre clock tower.
• Smritivan Earthquake Memorial and Museum - Bhuj - 2022 - memorial to the 2001 Bhuj earthquake.
• Archaeological Museum, Lothal - Saragwala - Harappan dockyard town, seals and beads.
• Saraswati Mandir - Surat - city museum of the historic port of Surat.
• Science Centre, Surat - Surat - planetarium and diamond gallery.
• Shristhal Sangrahalay - Siddhpur - 2017 - heritage of Siddhpur and its Bohra havelis.

Maharashtra and Goa One-Liners

• Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya - Mumbai - 1922 - formerly Prince of Wales Museum, architect George Wittet, renamed 1998.
• Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum - Mumbai - 1872 - oldest museum in Mumbai, formerly Victoria and Albert Museum.
• National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai - 1996 - housed in Cowasji Jehangir Hall.
• Cowasji Jehangir Hall - Mumbai - heritage hall gifted by Sir Cowasji Jehangir.
• Mani Bhavan - Mumbai - Gandhi's Bombay base from 1917 to 1934.
• Nehru Science Centre - Mumbai - largest interactive science centre in India.
• Nehru Planetarium - Mumbai - astronomy centre at Worli.
• Ballard Bunder Gatehouse - Mumbai - 1920 - maritime museum of Mumbai's docks.
• National Maritime Museum - Mumbai - India's maritime and shipbuilding history.
• INS Vikrant - Mumbai - India's first aircraft carrier, museum ship until scrapped in 2014.
• Piramal Museum of Art - Mumbai - 2016 - modern Indian masters at Lower Parel.
• Sarmaya Arts Foundation - Mumbai - 2015 - digital-first collection of coins, maps and photography.
• Antarang Art Gallery - Mumbai - India's first sexual-health information museum.
• Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum - Pune - about 20,000 objects of Indian everyday life, Mastani Mahal.
• Mahatma Phule Museum - Pune - formerly Lord Ray Museum, industrial and craft exhibits.
• Joshi's Museum of Miniature Railway - Pune - working miniature railway model museum.
• Darshan Museum - Pune - multimedia museum on Meher Baba.
• Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History - Pune - Maratha-period weapons and letters.
• Nagpur Central Museum - 1863 - called Ajab Bangla, one of central India's oldest museums.
• Raman Science Centre - Nagpur - named after Sir C. V. Raman, with a planetarium.
• Coin Museum - Anjaneri, Nashik - one of Asia's few museums devoted only to coinage.
• Indian Institute for Research in Numismatic Studies - Nashik - research institute and museum on Indian coins.
• Pragati Aerospace Museum - Ozar, Nashik - 2001 - HAL aviation museum.
• Cavalry Tank Museum - Ahmednagar - Asia's only tank museum, over 50 armoured vehicles.
• Siddhagiri Gramjivan Museum - Kaneri Math, Kolhapur - open-air wax museum of village life.
• Shree Chhatrapati Shahu Museum - Kolhapur - in the New Palace of the Kolhapur royals.
• Goa State Museum - Panaji - 1977 - main state museum with the Portuguese inquisition chair.
• Naval Aviation Museum - Vasco da Gama - 1998 - India's only naval aviation museum.
• Goa Chitra Museum - Benaulim - 2010 - over 4,000 traditional Goan farm and craft tools.
• Goa Science Centre - Panaji - planetarium and marine-science galleries.
• Museum of Christian Art - Old Goa - Asia's only museum of Indo-Portuguese Christian art.
• Archaeological Museum and Portrait Gallery - Old Goa - ASI museum in the Convent of St Francis of Assisi.
• Museum of Goa - Pilerne - 2015 - contemporary art museum founded by Subodh Kerkar.
• Big Foot Museum - Loutolim - Ancestral Goa open-air village recreation.
• Ashvek Vintage World - Nuvem - 2004 - vintage car and bike museum.

Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh One-Liners

• State Museum, Bhopal - 1903 - central museum of Madhya Pradesh with Jain bronzes from Dhar.
• Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya - Bhopal - 1977 - India's largest open-air anthropological museum.
• Tribal Museum - Bhopal - 2013 - seven major tribal groups of Madhya Pradesh.
• Bharat Bhavan - Bhopal - 1982 - designed by Charles Correa, houses Roopankar art museum.
• Regional Museum of Natural History - Bhopal - 1997 - Narmada valley dinosaur fossils.
• Regional Science Centre - Bhopal - 1995 - hands-on science galleries.
• Remember Bhopal Museum - Bhopal - community museum on the 1984 gas tragedy.
• Central Museum, Indore - 1929 - Paramara and Hinglajgarh sculptures.
• Rani Durgavati Museum - Jabalpur - dedicated to the Gond queen, Kalachuri sculptures.
• H. H. Maharaja Jiwajirao Scindia Museum - Gwalior - Jai Vilas Palace, silver toy train and giant chandeliers.
• Gujari Mahal Archaeological Museum - Gwalior - palace of Rani Mrignayani, Shalabhanjika of Gyaraspur.
• Sanchi Archaeological Museum - Sanchi - 1919 - site museum of the Sanchi Stupa.
• Vidisha Museum - Vidisha - sculptures from Udayagiri and Besnagar.
• Maharaja Chhatrasal Museum - Dhubela - Bundelkhand history and Shakti cult sculptures.
• Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum - Raipur - 1875 - oldest museum of Chhattisgarh.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana One-Liners

• Bapu Museum - Vijayawada - 1887 - formerly Victoria Jubilee Museum, black granite Buddha.
• Visakha Museum - Visakhapatnam - 1991 - city museum in a Dutch bungalow on the beach road.
• Kursura Submarine Museum - Visakhapatnam - 2002 - India's first submarine museum, INS Kursura of the 1971 war.
• TU 142 Aircraft Museum - Visakhapatnam - 2017 - built around a decommissioned naval patrol aircraft.
• Victory at Sea War Memorial - Visakhapatnam - 1971 - Eastern Naval Command memorial.
• Telugu Samskruthika Niketanam - Visakhapatnam - 2015 - Telugu cultural heritage museum.
• Bhagwan Mahavir Government Museum - Kadapa - 1982 - Rayalaseema sculptures and coins.
• Chandavaram Buddhist Site Museum - Prakasam district - 1980 - 2nd-century BCE Buddhist stupa.
• Archaeological Museum, Amaravati - Guntur district - Amaravati Stupa limestone panels.
• Island Museum, Nagarjunakonda - Nagarjuna Sagar - India's museum on an island, Ikshvaku Buddhist remains.
• Salar Jung Museum - Hyderabad, Telangana - 1951 - Veiled Rebecca and the world's largest one-man antique collection.
• Telangana State Archaeology Museum - Hyderabad - 1930 - founded by the 7th Nizam, has an Egyptian mummy.
• Nizam Museum - Purani Haveli, Hyderabad - 2000 - 176-foot wooden wardrobe of the Nizam.
• Birla Science Museum - Hyderabad - planetarium and dinosaurium on Naubat Pahad.
• City Museum - Hyderabad - history of Hyderabad from the Qutb Shahis to the Nizams.
• Khazana Building Museum - Hyderabad - Qutb Shahi treasury building near Golconda.
• Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art - Hyderabad - 1976 - Deccani paintings and textiles.
• Warangal Museum - Warangal - Kakatiya sculptures from the Ramappa temple region.
• Alampur Museum - Jogulamba Gadwal district - site museum of the Navabrahma temples.
• District Archaeological Museum - Nizamabad - 2001 - regional sculptures, coins and bronzes.

Karnataka One-Liners

• Government Museum, Bengaluru - 1865 - one of India's oldest museums, Halebidu sculptures.
• Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum - Bengaluru - 1962 - named after Sir M. Visvesvaraya.
• HAL Heritage Centre and Aerospace Museum - Bengaluru - 2001 - India's first aerospace museum.
• National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru - 2009 - in the restored Manikyavelu Mansion.
• Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath - Bengaluru - 1960 - Mysore paintings and Roerich works.
• Venkatappa Art Gallery - Bengaluru - named after court artist K. Venkatappa.
• Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) - Bengaluru - 2015 - major private photography and art museum, opened 2023.
• Kempegowda Museum - Bengaluru - dedicated to the founder of Bengaluru.
• Law Museum - Bengaluru - evolution of Indian law and legal documents.
• Folklore Museum - Mysuru - Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion, one of Asia's richest folk-art collections.
• Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery - Mysuru - Jaganmohan Palace, Raja Ravi Varma paintings.
• Railway Museum - Mysuru - second rail museum of India, Maharani's saloon carriage.
• Regional Museum of Natural History - Mysuru - 1995 - Western Ghats biodiversity.
• Aloyseum - Mangaluru - 1913 - St Aloysius College museum.
• Srimanthi Bhai Memorial Government Museum - Mangaluru - 1960 - coastal Karnataka bronzes and coins.
• Manjusha Museum - Dharmasthala - 1989 - temple museum with manuscripts and vintage cars.
• Government Museum (Shivappa Nayaka Palace) - Shivamogga - Keladi Nayaka palace museum.
• Archaeological Museum, Vijayapura - Bijapur - 1892 - Adil Shahi collection beside Gol Gumbaz.

Kerala One-Liners

• Napier Museum - Thiruvananthapuram - 1855 - founded by Uthram Thirunal, building by Robert Chisholm, opened 1880.
• Kerala Soil Museum - Thiruvananthapuram - India's first soil museum.
• Keralam Museum of History and Heritage - Thiruvananthapuram - Kerala's history from prehistory onward.
• Kerala Science and Technology Museum - Thiruvananthapuram - planetarium and digital theatre.
• Hill Palace Museum - Thrippunithura - Kerala's largest archaeological museum, Kochi royal collection.
• Krishnapuram Palace - Kayamkulam - Gajendra Moksham, one of Kerala's largest murals.
• Revi Karunakaran Memorial Museum - Alappuzha - crystal, ivory and Tanjore paintings.
• Indo-Portuguese Museum - Fort Kochi - altar, treasure, procession, civil life and cathedral sections.
• Museum of Kerala History - Edappally, Kochi - light-and-sound museum with life-size figures.
• Vallathol Museum - Cheruthuruthy, Thrissur - memorial to poet Vallathol Narayana Menon.
• Mural Art Museum - Thrissur - devoted to Kerala mural painting.
• Archaeological Museum, Thrissur - Sakthan Thampuran Palace, megalithic burial urns.
• Vaidyaratnam Ayurveda Museum - Thrissur - India's first Ayurveda museum.
• PhotoMuse Museum of Photography - Thrissur - 2014 - India's first photography museum.
• Arakkal Museum - Ayikkara, Kannur - Kerala's only Muslim royal dynasty.
• Teak Museum - Nilambur - world's first teak museum, near Conolly's Plot.
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Police Museum - Kollam - Kerala police history and forensics.
• 8 Point Art Cafe - Kollam - private contemporary art gallery.
• Indian Business Museum - IIM Kozhikode - history of Indian business and trade.
• Pazhassi Raja Archaeological Museum - Kozhikode - 1976 - megaliths, umbrella stones and murals.
• Wayanad Heritage Museum - Ambalavayal - tribal artefacts of the Wayanad hills.
• Art Museum of Love - Kodakara - 2024 - newest private art museum in Kerala.

Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman One-Liners

• Government Museum, Chennai - Egmore - 1851 - second oldest in India, largest Roman antiquities outside Europe.
• Regional Railway Museum - Perambur, Chennai - 2002 - Southern Railway heritage museum.
• Vivekanandar Illam - Chennai - the Ice House where Vivekananda stayed in 1897.
• Gandhi Memorial Museum - Madurai - preserves the blood-stained cloth worn by Gandhi when assassinated.
• Gass Forest Museum - Coimbatore - one of India's oldest forestry museums.
• Saraswathi Mahal Library - Thanjavur - among Asia's oldest libraries, expanded by Raja Serfoji II.
• Government Museum, Pudukkottai - multi-purpose district museum with a whale skeleton.
• Government Museum, Cuddalore - hero stones, coins and palm-leaf manuscripts.
• Government Museum, Karur - Sangam-age coins and beads from the Amaravati riverbed.
• Government Museum, Tiruchirappalli - Chola bronzes and Pallava sculptures.
• Railway Heritage Centre - Tiruchirappalli - Golden Rock workshop railway museum.
• Mahakavi Bharathi Memorial Library and Museum - Erode - dedicated to poet Subramania Bharati.
• Pondicherry Museum - Puducherry - French colonial artefacts and Roman finds from Arikamedu.
• Anthropological Museum - Port Blair - tribes of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Samudrika Naval Marine Museum - Delanipur, Port Blair - Navy museum on marine ecosystems.
• Cellular Jail National Memorial - Port Blair - the Kala Pani prison, now a memorial museum.

West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha One-Liners

• Indian Museum - Kolkata - 1814 - six sections, 35 galleries, called Jadu Ghar.
• Victoria Memorial Hall - Kolkata - 1921 - Lord Curzon's idea, architect William Emerson, Makrana marble.
• Birla Industrial and Technological Museum - Kolkata - 1959 - India's first science and technology museum.
• Asutosh Museum of Indian Art - Kolkata - 1937 - India's first university museum of art.
• State Archaeological Gallery - Kolkata - 1962 - finds from Chandraketugarh and Pandu Rajar Dhibi.
• Gurusaday Museum - Kolkata - 1961 - Bengal folk art and kantha embroidery.
• Marble Palace - Kolkata - Rajendra Mullick's mansion with 126 types of marble.
• Metcalfe Hall - Kolkata - Greek-revival building, now the ASI's Ekalavya gallery.
• Kolkata Town Hall - Kolkata Panorama multimedia city museum.
• Fort William - Kolkata - Eastern Command military museum.
• Currency Building - Kolkata - restored ASI heritage exhibition space.
• Jorasanko Thakur Bari - Kolkata - birthplace of Rabindranath Tagore, Rabindra Bharati Museum.
• Academy of Fine Arts - Kolkata - Tagore and Jamini Roy works.
• Kolkata Museum of Modern Art - planned modern-art museum for eastern India.
• Sabarna Sangrahashala - Kolkata - family that sold the three villages forming Calcutta in 1698.
• Mother's Wax Museum - Kolkata - eastern India's first wax museum.
• Fanattic Sports Museum - Kolkata - India's first dedicated sports museum.
• Kolkata Rail Museum - Howrah - Eastern Railway vintage locomotives.
• Netaji Museum - Netaji Bhawan, Kolkata - the house from which Subhas Chandra Bose escaped in 1941.
• Malda Museum - English Bazar - sculptures from Gauda and Pandua.
• Rabindra Museum - Mungpoo, Darjeeling - Tagore's cinchona-plantation retreat.
• Hazarduari Palace Museum - Murshidabad - Palace of a Thousand Doors in Nizamat Fort.
• Patna Museum - Patna - 1917 - Jadu Ghar of Patna, once home of the Didarganj Yakshi.
• Bihar Museum - Patna - 2015 - now displays the Didarganj Yakshi.
• Jalan Museum - Quila House, Patna - 1919 - Napoleon's bed and Marie Antoinette's porcelain.
• Rajendra Smriti Sangrahalaya - Patna - 1963 - memorial to Dr Rajendra Prasad at Sadaqat Ashram.
• Gandhi Sangrahalaya - Patna - 1967 - Gandhi's Champaran and Bihar connection.
• Srikrishna Science Centre - Patna - 1978 - named after Bihar's first Chief Minister.
• Bhartiya Nritya Kala Mandir - Patna - 1963 - dance and music institute with a museum.
• Bihar Police Museum - Patna - history of policing in Bihar.
• Chandradhari Museum - Darbhanga - 1957 - ivory work and Mithila paintings.
• Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh Museum - Darbhanga - Darbhanga Raj collection.
• Gaya Museum - Gaya - Pala-period sculptures of Magadha.
• Chandra Shekhar Singh Museum - Jamui - antiquities of the Jamui and Munger belt.
• Gandhi Smriti Sangrahalaya - Bhitiharwa - ashram of the 1917 Champaran Satyagraha.
• Nalanda Archaeological Museum - Nalanda - site museum of Nalanda Mahavihara.
• Archaeological Museum, Bodh Gaya - beside the Mahabodhi Temple.
• State Museum Hotwar - Ranchi - principal state museum of Jharkhand.
• Ranchi Science Centre - Ranchi - 3D theatre and outdoor science park.
• Tribal Research Institute and Museum - Ranchi - 32 tribal groups of Jharkhand.
• Sanskriti Museum and Art Gallery - Hazaribagh - Khovar and Sohrai tribal wall paintings.
• Odisha State Museum - Bhubaneswar - 1932 - one of India's largest palm-leaf manuscript collections.
• Regional Museum of Natural History - Bhubaneswar - biodiversity of Chilika and Similipal.
• Tribal Research Institute Museum - Bhubaneswar - huts and artefacts of Odisha's 62 tribes.

North-East India and Sikkim One-Liners

• Assam State Museum - Guwahati - 1940 - Gupta and Pala sculptures, Ahom antiquities.
• Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra - Guwahati - cultural complex named after the Vaishnava saint.
• Mayong Central Museum and Emporium - Mayong - 2002 - in Assam's land of black magic.
• Jawaharlal Nehru Museum - Itanagar - 1980 - state museum of Arunachal Pradesh.
• Manipur State Museum - Imphal - 1969 - Manipuri costumes, royal boats and tribal artefacts.
• INA War Museum - Moirang - 1985 - where the INA flag was first hoisted on Indian soil in 1944.
• Imphal Peace Museum - Imphal - 2019 - marks 75 years of the Battle of Imphal.
• Sekta Archaeological Living Museum - Sekta - 1991 - burial mounds preserved in situ.
• Kangla Museum - Imphal - inside Kangla Fort, seat of the Meitei kings.
• Archaeological Museum, Kangla - Imphal - 2017 - excavations within Kangla Fort.
• Kangla Memento Museum - Imphal - 2018 - mementoes of the Manipur royal legacy.
• Hijagang Museum - Imphal - 2013 - traditional Manipuri royal boats.
• Loktak Folklore Museum - Thanga - 2016 - folklore of Loktak Lake and the Sangai deer.
• Mizoram State Museum - Aizawl - Mizo costumes, implements and historical photographs.
• Nagaland State Museum - Kohima - 1970 - 16 major Naga tribes and their log drums.
• Tripura State Museum - Agartala - 1970 - largest museum in North-East India, in Ujjayanta Palace.
• Don Bosco Centre for Indigenous Cultures - Shillong - 2001 - 17 galleries on North-East cultures.
• Namgyal Institute of Tibetology - Gangtok - 1958 - largest Tibetological collection outside Tibet, foundation stone by the 14th Dalai Lama.

Revise this list in short sittings rather than one long session, and immediately convert reading into recall by attempting the mixed sets on Static GK quizzes and the linked topic notes on Static GK notes. If you are still choosing which exams to target this cycle, check the vacancies listed on latest government job notifications and plan your General Awareness preparation around the pattern of those exams.