Salar Jung Museum celebrated 68th formation day

Telangana: Nawab Mir Yousuf Ali Khan Bahadur popularly known as Salar Jung III was known for his rare collection of art, antiquities and curiosities, brought together from various parts of the world. His assets were arranged in the shape of a museum and declared open to public on 16th December, 1951 by late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Salar Jung III passed away on 2nd March, 1949. He remained bachelor throughout his life and had no direct descendants. As such, the Government of India appointed a committee by virtue of a special ordinance to administer the affairs of the Salar Jung Estate.
The desirability of organizing a museum out of the Nawab’s collection dawned quite soon and Sri M. K. Velodi, the then Chief Civil Administrator of the Hyderabad State approached Dr. James Cousins, a well known art-critic, to organize the various objects of art and curiosities which were lying scattered in the different palaces of Salar Jung III, in the form of a Museum.
Dr. Cousins sought services from Sri G. Venkatachalam, an art-critic, for this purpose. Sri Venkatachalam had a formidable task before him in selecting and arranging material which could be relevant for a museum, from an immense collection of different antiques and art-objects. The venue of the proposed museum was “DEWAN DEODHI” itself, the ancestral palace of the Salar Jungs and the place where Mir Yousuf Ali Khan lived all his life. The control and the supervision of the affairs of this newly born museum was with the “Salar Jung Estate Committee.” After organizing the Salar Jung Museum at Dewan Deodi the Oriental and the Western Collections were displayed in 77 big and small rooms. The Children’s Section and the Library, in two separate wings of the Dewan Deodi were the two other important sections of the Museum. In addition there was Photography Section and a Chemical Conservation Laboratory.
In the Dewan Deodhi the collection on display was divided into three main sections that are Eastern section, Western Section and the Jade Room, apart from the Children’s Section, which included exhibits pertaining to the interest of children from all the three main sections indicated above. The Salar Jung Museum was in “Dewan Deodi” till 1968.