Salar Jung Museum of Hyderabad is the third largest museum in India. It was declared open on 16th December, 1951 by the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. In the year of 1968, the entire collection of the museum and the Salar Jung Museum library was shifted to the present building from Diwan Deodi. In 2000, two additional buildings were also added.

    Spread across an area of 10 acres and built in two floors, the Salar Jung Museum present wide range of artefacts which have been majorly collected by Mir Yousuf Ali Khan who is also known as Salar Jung III along with Nawab Turab Ali Khan (Salar Jung I) and his descendants. Mir Yousuf Ali Khan dedicated his entire life collecting antiques and artefacts and spent a considerable amount of his wealth collecting the same from all over the world.

    Salar Jung III/Nawab Mir Yousuf Ali Khan had spent forty years of his life in collecting various art pieces and manuscripts from around the globe. He has left his position as the then Prime Minister to pursue his passion. Initially his collection was stored in the ancestral palace of Salar Jungs, Dewan Deodi.

    After the demise of Salar Jung III, the idea to create museum arose in the minds of Sri M.K. Velodi, the then Chief Civil Administrator of the Hyderabad State. It was then a renowned art critic, Dr. James Cousins, was given the responsibility to collect and sort all the items from different palaces of Salar Jung III.

    With a collection of close to 43000 art objects, 9000 manuscripts and 47000 printed books, Salar Jung Museum promises a rich experience to all its visitors. The museum has 38 galleries which are spread over two floors. An impressive number of around 13,654 objects are being displayed in all the 37 galleries of Salar Jung Museum.

    The collection in the museum consists of Indian Art, Far Eastern Art, European Art, Children Art, Middle Eastern Art, as well as Founders gallery and rare manuscript section. One of the major attractions of the museum is the 19th Century British Musical Clock. This clock was sold by Cooke and Kelvey of England.

    In 1936, to mark the completion of 25 years reign of the seventh Nizam, various silver jubilee celebrations were organized. To celebrate this event, a special Jubilee Pavilion Hall was constructed at the Public Gardens (Bagh-e-aam) Hyderabad . During this celebration, Nizam has received gifts comprising of mementos, models and presentations, which constitute a larger portion of the items displayed at the Nizam Museum. Along with these, other gifts, which he had received from his well-wishers over the years, have also been kept for display.

    He also made the trust Nizam’s Jubilee Pavilion Trust, to take care of the museum and the items, which have been showcased. The museum was open for public in the year of 2000 and since then it has been one of the most popular tourist spots in Hyderabad.

    Nizam Museum is consisted of a wide range of rare souvenirs and exquisitely designed mementos. The major attraction here is the golden, wooden throne, which was used during the silver jubilee celebrations of the Last Nizam. There is also a gold model of the pavilion. Diamond inlaid gold Tiffin-box, paintings of Mir Osman Ali Khan, wooden writing box covered with mother-of-pearl, daggers studded with diamond and gold, caskets, etc., are a few popular items on display. An intricately designed silver perfume bottles, a gift from the Raja of Palvancha is also an admirable piece of art. For car lovers, there are vintage cars such as 1930 Rolls Royce, Packard and a Jaguar Mark V on display.

    About 200-year-old proclamation drums and a manually operated lift that is more than 150 years old, are a few other features of the Nizam Museum that are sure to attract you.

    Another prominent feature is the wardrobe of sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Mahbub Ali Khan. The wardrobe, an entity in itself, is 176 feet long and has two levels. It is made up of Burma teak, one of the finest. The sixth Nizam, is said to have never repeated his clothes, which were given to other after being worn once by him. Hence, a section has been recreated based on his various photographs and account of his costumes.

    Kunda Satyanarayana Kala Dhamam is its name, but it is more popularly known as Surendrapuri or Mythological Awareness Center. This Mythology museum at Surendrapuri celebrates Hindu Mythology, its history, its epics, its Gods, and Goddesses. Located roughly 40 km’s from Hyderabad, it was founded by Sh Kunda Satyanarayana in memory of his son Surendra Babu. Once you have gone through this vast museum you wonder at the effort of one man who had the vision of bringing all the divine places and concepts of Indian Mythology at one place and that led him to build this unique museum. I am not aware of any other similar museum in India or anywhere else at least not at this scale.

    The campus outside the museum has some giant figurines of Gods and Goddesses. And a temple dedicated to Narasimha Swamy like the one at Yadagirigutta close by. You enter the museum through a giant lion’s mouth. Walking through the horn-like creations on both sides. This is just a small prelude of what is waiting for you inside. It is the world in itself with various scenes and innumerable temples. All you have to do is follow the arrows marked on the ground.

    Ancient Indian mythology speaks of various Loka’s i.e. various worlds that exist in the universe – the famous ones being Swargaloka and Patalloka. Roughly translated heaven and hell. You see the depiction of various Loka’s like Brahmaloka, Vishnuloka, Sivaloka, Nagaloka, Indraloka, Yamaloka, Narakaloka, Patalaloka. At Nagaloka you go inside the underground with all kinds of Nagas depicted. At Vishnuloka – Vishnu is sleeping on the serpent, at Indraloka – apsaras are dancing, at Swargaloka you go through the seven golden gates. It basically gives a visual version of what we have read about these places in scriptures.

    You get to see the scenes of Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Bhagwat Purana. You get to see all the Shakti Peethas and Jyotirlingas and Char Dhams. There is a model re-creation of all the famous temples of India. Though there is an obvious skew towards the South Indian temples and especially the temples located in Andhra.

    For Hindus, it can be a visual treat to see all religious places in one place. For others, it can be a good visual introduction to the mythological maze of Sanatan Dharma.

    Known for transferring scientific knowledge among everyone, Birla Science Museum has been educating people since many years now. The best part about this science museum is the fact that that this dissemination of information is done in an interactive way. Second phase of B.M. Birla Science Centre this museum was opened in 1990. Nothing less than a heaven for those with special interest in science, this museum makes learning a fun filled process. Birla Science Museum has various sections, each section presenting an amazing set of exhibits, each dedicated to a specialised field. These are Interactive Science Section, Archaeology and dolls museum, Nobel Gallery, Antarctica Diorama, NRSA, Dvaraka Diorama, IEEE and Dinosaurium.

    Interactive Science Centre is one of the many sections where exhibits are designed on the basis of various Physics laws, mechanics, perception, vibration and sounds, energy and motors, electricity and magnetism and intriguing concepts of optical illusions and many other concepts. Mix Colors, Arch Bridge, Lift Yourself Up, Action-Reaction, The Magic Ball, Pedal Power and See Sounds are a few of the exhibits at the interaction Science section.

    Another popular section of Birla science museum Hyderabad is the Archaeology and Dolls Museum, which displays a range of excavated materials from pre, early historic and Megalithic Periods along with various manuscripts including palm leaf manuscripts, carvings, paintings, temple wares, etc. All the materials are the result for three meticulously carried out excavations by the Birla Archaeological & Cultural Research Institute (BACRI).

    Another Section, Dinosaurium is something to look forward too. It boasts of a rare collection including fossils the Dinosaur, Kotasaurus, which dates back to almost 160 million years. These fossils were excavated from Yamanpalli in the Adilabad district.

    Nirmala Birla Art Gallery is one more interesting section. As the name suggest this art gallery displays a huge collection of various beautifully creations. It is consisted of a complex maze of crystal dolls and sculptures. An ivory architecture which boasts of intricate carvings and figurines add on to the overall beauty of this place.

    Archaeologist Henry Cousens first explored the site in the beginning of the 19th century, and around 1940 the mound was excavated under the supervision of Nizam of Hyderabad. The excavated items were placed in a museum built on the ancient site. In 1952, the museum's contents were moved to the current build, under the administrative control of Archaeological Survey of India.

    In 1930, (Nizam VII) Mir Osman Ali Khan, wanted to preserve the Hyderabad's state's heritage, had named the museum as Hyderabad Museum. It was named as Andhra Pradesh State Archaeology Museum in 1960. Now, Its known as Telangana State Archaeology Museum

    This museum's main attraction is its Egyptian mummy of Princess Naishu which was brought in 1930 to Hyderabad by Nasir Nawaz Jung, the son-in-law of Asaf Jah VI. He presented it to the Asaf Jah VII, who donated it to the museum. He had reportedly bought it for 1000 pounds. It is one of the six Egyptian mummies in India, the others being in Lucknow, Mumbai Vadodara, Jaipur, and Kolkata.

    Telangana State Archaeology Museum boasts of unique kind of collections. One such is the imitations of Ajanta Paintings. This place is the only museum in possession of these. Along with this, there are many galleries in the Museum depicting traces from the bygone era. There is a gallery on bronze artefacts, Armors, Numismatics, stone sculptures, manuscripts, modern paintings, textiles, etc. It also houses a separate gallery on Buddhist sculptures as well. There is also an extensive collection on Hindu sculptures belonging to Chalukyan period and Vijayanagara period.

    There is a huge gallery on Buddha dating back to last century. The museum has a wide variety of archaeological artifacts from the Nizam, Kakatiya dynasty.