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Man s natural tendency to collect things, to display them to others, to expect admiration, to obtain recognition by the ownership of attractive, beautiful, curious or valuable objects gave birth to museums. These enable people to explore collections for motivation, erudition and satisfaction. Museums are institutions that preserve the physical aspect of heritage as well as the inherent quality of it. These are the repositories of cultural and natural heritage of any nation. With the establishment of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta in 1784, the germination of Indian museum movement occurred. Indian museums have come a long way from being the abode of Muses (Greek goddesses of different branches of learning and art) to a lively socio-cultural organization with the promise of serving society. However, this book, although brief but informative, narrates the story of the growth and development of Indian museums in various forms. It is an experimental effort to study the different aspects of Indian museum movement covering a wide range.

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Mahua Chakrabarti is working as a Senior lecturer in Museology, University of Calcutta. She obtained her M.A. and Ph.D. degree from the same University in 2002. She has penned a number of articles on different aspects of Museology and Museography. Presently she is engaged in post-doctoral research work.

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