The National Museum of Myanmar,, located in Dagon, Yangon, is the major one of the two national museums for Burmese art, history and culture in Myanmar. Founded in 1952, the five-story museum has an extensive collection of ancient artifacts, ornaments, works of art, inscriptions and historic memorabilia, related to history, culture and civilization of Burmese people. The main attraction of the museum is the only surviving original Lion Throne of the Burmese monarchs. There are more than 4000 permanent objects in the museum. Public museums in Myanmar are administered by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture and can be classified as national museums, archaeological museums, regional cultural museums, and memorial museums. Furthermore, other kinds of museum are appearing under other ministries, like the Defense Services Museum in the capital Naypyidaw, or in the private sector. The museum is open from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, except on Mondays and public holidays.
The museum's collections are displayed over the following 14 galleries or halls.
Burmese culture
The Burmese Epigraphy and Calligraphy hall on the ground floor contains exhibits on the origins and development of Burmese script/alphabet throughout history, as well as exhibits on other ancient and ethnic scripts.
In the Hall of Culture exhibits on Burmese rural life are displayed, covering social, economic and cultural traditions and modes of transport. Examples include a traditional Burmese bullock cart, still in use in many parts of the country, an offering bowl for monks, gilded and wrought with mosaics of semi-precious stones, and personal ornaments and jewelry worn by Burmese people since ancient times.
The Hall of Arts covers the progress of Burmese art, beginning with the cave paintings of the Stone Age to the Bagan, Innwa, Taungoo, Konbaung and Yadanabon periods and up to contemporary art. Here, works of famous artists are on display and temporary exhibitions are held.
In the Hall of Performing Arts, there are many musical instruments and an ornate saingwaing, as well as Burmese marionettes used in classical dramas and operas.
The fifth floor of the museum consists of halls for the Buddha Images, dating back to the Pyu Period and up to the present day.
Historic periods
In the exhibition hall on Natural History, there are many fossils, dating back millions of years, including a 40-million-year-old anthropoidprimate, found in the Pondaung region in Upper Myanmar.
The hall of Pre-historic Times houses a replica of the Padah-Lin Caves, complete with its over 10,000-year-old Stone Age drawings, stone weapons of the Neolithic period, and bronze weapons of a later age. The hall also has exhibits on Pyu period, artifacts such as clay pots, urns, votive tablets and necklaces, as well as those found in archaeological excavations at the ancient Pyu city of Sri Ksetra.
In the hall of Burmese History are exhibits on the pagodas, temples, monasteries and ordination halls of the Bagan Period and the marvelous murals of the Pinya, Inwa, Taungoo, and Konbaung periods. Rare ancient votive tablets with moldings from scenes of the jataka stories are also on display.
The RoyalRegalia hall houses displays of beautifully ornamented objects used in royal ceremonies of ancient kings from different periods.
The Throne Room houses miniature models of the eight kinds of thrones of ancient Burmese kings and the magnificent Royal Lion Throne of the last Burmese monarch King Thibaw in all its original majesty, used in Hluttaw Hall.
The Yadanabon Period Exhibit hall has displays on clothing fashions, furniture and other household articles, such as a palanquin used by King Thibaw's Chief Abbot.
In 2015, the museums of Myanmar joined the International Council of Museums for wider international cooperation. In order to meet international standards of skills training and development for staff in museums to protect, safeguard and share the country’s unique cultural heritage, the National Museum has also cooperated with the British Council Burma and the Collections Trust, a London-based charity. Among other activities, training courses were organized to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to increase the growth and sustainability of galleries and museums in Myanmar.
