Napier Museum

The Napier Museum is an art and natural history museum situated in Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala,India. Napier Museum built in the 19th century, this Indo-Saracenic structure boasts a natural air-conditioning system and houses a rare collection of archaeological and historic artefacts, bronze idols, ancient ornaments, a temple chariot and ivory carvings. The Japanese shadow play leather figures, used to depict the epics of Mahabharata and the Ramayana, are very interesting.

A visit to the Napier Museum complex reveals a glimpse of Kerala's rich cultural heritage. An exceptional piece of architecture, the Museum is named after the former Madras Governor General, John Napier. The Napier Museum is also called the Government Art Museum. The Museum building is a combination of the Kerala, Mughal, Chinese and Italian architectural styles. The museum has a fairly good collection of exhibition that counts to around 550 numbers. It offers an array of display of artistic, cultural and antique objects comprising of sculptures in bronze and stone, carving of wood and ivory, lamps, textiles, Kathakali models, handicraft items, Koftgari works, traditional musical instruments, a treasure of numismatic collections representing Chera, Chola, Pandya dynasties of Southern India etc.