Museums in Srinagar

Sri Pratap Singh Museum Srinagar

Being the summer palace of Maharajas who once ruled Kashmir, Sri Pratap Singh Museum (SPS) is notable mainly for the grand collection of handicrafts and archaeological artifacts from across the state. While the outlook of the museum talks about royal panache, the interior displays abundant antique objects collected from Baltistan, Gilgit, and from different corners of Kashmir.

The collections of artifacts displayed in the museum are divided into different categories based on the similarity between the objects. Sections like archaeology include items such as Pandrenthan Sculptures, Awantipura Sculptures, Parihaspora Sculptures, Ushkar and Buddhist Antiquities from Ladakh.

In the manuscript section there are books, royal edicts and deeds which date back to the seventeenth century and late nineteenth century. Written in Old Persian, Gilgit, Arabic and Kashmiri language most of these documents are written either on the bark of the Birch tree (bhoj patra) or Kashmiri handmade paper(koshur kagaz). Some of the most significant items are Tafseer-i-Kabeer, Kashmiri Koran, Haft Paikar Makhzan Asrar, Sikandernama, and Shahnama.

Metal ware section hosts royal as well as common utensils made with exclusive designs. The collection of decorative items displays 300 artifacts in all which are made using 8 types of metals such as enamel, tin, copper, zinc, brass, Iron, white metal, chipped turquoise and Tibetan metal.

In the textile section, the Kashmiri Shawls enhance the pride of the museum and are an indication of Kashmiri weaving style and excellence.

Other sections are enamel ware, collections of decorative art, naqashi, paper mache items, natural history collections and some more.