NAPIER MUSEUM
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Location : Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Also Known As : Government Art Museum
Designed By : English Architect, Chisholm
On Display : Life-Size Statues Of Kathakali Dancers

An architectural splendour, the Napier Museum combines traditional Kerala style
with the Chinese and Mughal influences much evident in its architecture. 

The 19th century English architect, Chisholm, designed the building, which
houses a rare collection of archaoelogical and historical artifacts. 

The museum housed in a whimsical building dating from 1880, displays an
assortment of bronzes, historical and contemporary ornaments, temples carts,
ivory carvings and life size figures of Kathakali dancers in full costumes. 

The interiors of the Indo-Sarcenic structure are every bit as intriguing as the
exterior with pink and blue stripes alternating with stripes of yellow and
cherry red, scalloped arches of a banana yellow, interpreting elaborately
carved balconies, the whole linked together with red and white lattice work and
mock friezes. The building boasts of a natural air conditioning system.

Nearby, there is the Natural History Museum, first opened in 1857, that has a
collection of ethnographic pieces, animal skeletons and stuffed animals and
birds. 

Timings 
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The museums are open from Tuesdays to Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4.45 p.m. On
Wednesdays, the museum opens only at 1 p.m. 


