Of all the Tourist attractions in Junagadh, the Museums display a lot of the relics within the territory of walls and buildings and people with interest in historical happenings, can savor a taste of the same with utmost gusto. It provides visitors ample opportunities to go through the antics, historical manuscripts, and archeological remains all under one roof.
Out of the two Museums in Junagadh, the Darbar Hall Museum is the more popular one and houses the a varied range of items and memorabilia which give us the image of the Nawabs' era and an insight into the ways of life and different instruments used during that period.
History of the Darbar Hall Museum:
The Darbar Hall Museum, Junagadh actually has been a courthouse in the times of the Nawabs – where all court cases used to be put up to be fought for or against. Part of the old city palace, the court was later converted into a museum, preserving the tokens and mementos which speaks of the grandeur and glory of the past ages of Nawabs and Sultans.
Description of the Darbar Hall Museum:
Weapons, arms, war items, gold and silver items, jewelry, paintings on big as well as small canvases, palanquins, howdahs adorn the Durbar Hall Museum. Rich ornamental carpets, intricately designed silver thrones, beautiful chandeliers speak of the tastes of the then Nawabs of Junagadh. One of the most precious possessions of the Darbar Hall Museum, Junagadh is the silver plated howdah decorated most ostensibly with silver mermaids at four corners and a tiger made out of silver posing to protect the rich velvet seats.
Lovely diamond woven carpets, sparkling chandeliers, pictures, portraits of the rulers of Junagadh, including the one with his pet dogs, delineate the other room of the Darbar Hall Museum. One of the carpets here is the pride of the Nawabi era as it was woven in the Junagadh jail by inmates. Weapons like Nepalese kukris, shields made out of turtle shells, various daggers, sabers comprise the arms section of the museum.
