Albert Hall

Albert Hall Museum is a museum in Jaipur city in Rajasthan state of India. It is the oldest museum of the state and functions as the State museum of Rajasthan. The main attraction of the Albert Hall Jaipur is the building itself, with its beautifully elaborate Indo - Saracenic inspired domes and carved arches constructed from inlaid sand stone. The museum does have an extensive collection, the largest in Rajasthan, but the lack of details and descriptions, tired displays and jumbled organisation may deter common visitors.

In a city of many architectural excesses, the Albert Hall Jaipur is possibly the most decorative and visually stunning. The large concert hall was constructed in 1876 for one sole purpose, to ensure Prince Albert of England would visit Jaipur during his tour of the country. This extravagant gesture by the Maharaja guaranteed the prince’s visit and today the Albert Hall Jaipur has been converted into Albert Hall Museum (Central Museum) that displays relics from Jaipur’s history,

 This museum is supposed to be the oldest museum of the state. Colonel Sir Swinton Jacob designed it in 1876 to greet King Edward VII as Prince of Wales on his visit to India. It was opened to public ten years later. Positioned amidst the gardens of Ram Niwas Bagh in Jaipur, this museum has an assortment of rare articles on its display including textiles, carpets, paintings, metal and wood crafts, pottery, arms and weapons, flora and fauna of the state, toys, dolls and even an Egyptian mummy that belongs to the Ptolemaic Epoch. 

It is also known for housing the famous carpet, which portrays the scene of a Persian garden carpet with running water streams that was bought at a dear price from Shah Abbas of Persia, by Mirza Raja Jai Singh I. The building is situated in Ram Niwas Garden outside the city wall opposite New gate and is a fine example of Indo-Saracenic architecture. The building was designed by Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, assisted by Mir Tujumool Hoosein, and was opened as public museum in 1887. 

It is also called the Government Central Museum. Maharaja Ram Singh initially wanted this building to be a town hall, but his successor, Madho Singh II, decided it should be a museum for the art of Jaipur and included as part of the new Ram Nivas Garden. It also puts on show the miniature paintings of a number of sub-schools of Rajasthan.
Puppets and Phad paintings (the painted scrolls depicting the life of Pabuji Rathore, who was a great folk-hero from Marwar) occupies yet another gallery of the museum. The highlights of the museum, however, are displayed in its central gallery, which is completely devoted to the Rajasthani music and dance forms.

The galleries on the ground floor of the museum have been completely remodeled and restructured since 1959 in an attempt to depict the uniqueness of the dresses and jewellery of all the classes and tribes of Rajasthani people including the privileged class that mainly consists of Rajputs and the merchant class. It includes the lifestyle of the tribals such as Meenas, Bhopas, Bhils, Gadoliya Lohars and many more. 

One gallery has also been committed to the henna body art of Rajasthan, popularly called as 'Mehndi Mandana', which makes an exhibition of the typical Rajasthani motifs and designs that are so well recognized as ethnic all over the world.  The museum has a rich collection of artefacts like paintings, carpets, ivory, stone, metal sculptures, colourful crystal works etc.

It is named after King Edward VII (Albert Edward), during whose visit to the city as the Prince of Wales, its foundation stone was laid on 6 February 1876

Albert Hall Jaipur Tourist Information

The Albert Hall Jaipur is the focal central point of the Ram Nivas Gardens, which are 1.5km to the south of the city walls. The easiest method to reach the concert hall is by walking but a taxi (40Rs) rickshaw (15Rs) is the quickest means of travel. The Albert Hall Museum is open every day from 9:00 to 17:00 and the entrance fee is Rs150.

There is a better value combined ticket for Rs 350 which includes Amber Fort, Albert Hall, Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar, Nahargarh Fort and last for 48 hours. An audio guide has been introduced for 80Rs and this does greatly add too many of the exhibits. A typical visit lasts between 30-60 minutes and does greatly depend on your interest on Jaipur’s history. The museum collection includes artifacts from Jaipur’s royalty and tribes with miniature paintings, folk art, costumes and woodcarvings. 

History – Albert Hall Museum 

The Albert Hall Jaipur was designed by a British architect, Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, who combined India Islamic architecture with neo-gothic that was fashionable in the Victorian era. This style of architecture is referred to as Indo-Saracenic and the Albert Hall Museum is the finest example in Rajasthan. Prince Albert ceremonially laid the first stone of the building to be named after him and the ceremony took place on the 6th of February 1876. The complex was completed 10 years later in the reign of Madho Singh II who decided the Albert Hall Jaipur should be used as a museum instead of a government building as Madho Singh I had planned.

Albert hall consist of Indo saracenic type of architecture and is designed same as the Victoria and Albert museum which is located in London. The building and the assortment beholds the beauty of the sight along with the pillars. The courtyards and the arches of the museum are worth seeing. This Albert museum was created in the 19^th century

This museum amazingly houses 19,000 historic objects and has various collections like metal ware, ivory work, lacquer work, jewelry, textiles, pottery carved wooden objects, arms and weapons, clay models , sculptures, educational, scientific and zoological objects, tribal costumes, ceramics, oil and miniature paintings, inlay work, musical instruments, clocks and marble statues. 

The museum was designed in the year 1876 by Colonel Sir Swinton just to greet King Edward VII as Prince of Wales on his visit to India. Museum was opened to public ten years later from its designing. The museum also has an assortment of rare articles on its display including textiles, carpets, paintings, metal and wood crafts, pottery, arms and weapons, flora and fauna of the state, toys, dolls and even an Egyptian mummy that belongs to the Ptolemaic Epoch. It shows the scene of a Persian garden Carpet with running water streams and is also renowned for housing the famous carpet. Mirza Raja Jai Singh bought it from Shah Abbas of Persia.

Ram Niwas Garden is located outside the city wall which is located opposite to the New Gate in Jaipur. Albert Hall is the oldest museum in Jaipur. Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II was responsible for the construction of this museum in the year 1868, when King Edward the Prince of Wales visited India. Maharaja Ram Singh wanted that this building should be a town hall, but his successor wants that this should be museum , which should be known for the art of Jaipur.

Attraction – Albert Hall Museum

In an attempt to depict the uniqueness of the dresses and jewelry of all the classes and tribes of Rajasthani people the galleries on the ground floor of the museum have been completely remodeled and restructured since 1959 including the privileged class that mainly consists of Rajputs and the merchant class.

 Lifestyle of the tribals such as Meenas, Bhopas, Bhils, Gadoliya Lohars are included. One gallery shows the heena body art of Rajasthan, which is known as “Mehndi Mandana” , which shows an exhibition of the typical Rajasthani motifs and designs that are rigourslyl recognized as ethic all over the world. 

Another gallery recognizes Puppets and Phad paintings. The highlights of the museum are displayed in another gallery of museum which is in its central gallery , which is completely shows Rajasthani music and dance forms.

The central museum is the most visited destination by tourists of Jaipur. It is famed for its enormous and exclusive collection. One section of the museum, also known as Darbar Hall, has the largest floor covering in the world. This is the oldest and finest identified carpet, and is solitary in its kind. This museum remains open all days expect on the Holi festival.the timings are from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.