National Museum

I finally made it to the national museum. And it was almost worth it. Being critical it is another missed opportunity at encouraging tourists to spend money. There was no guide to purchase and no real shop. There was also very little information (cards frequently provided unhelpful details such as “Some crystal works 20th century”) and an eclectic array of artifacts. Including many which didn’t seem to have any relevance to Nepal.


We started off in the doll collection with cabinet after cabinet of dolls representing different countries. There was no standard doll so I came to the conclusion that each country had donated dolls representing itself. The dolls themselves were generally grubby and thick with dust, mothballs were scattered around. And there did not appear to be any logical sequence to the countries. Pakistan and Sri Lanka were buffered in one section by Israel.


Then followed several life-size tableaux of daily life in Nepal, finishing off with a nice cave-man scene. Although I couldn’t say whether prehistoric man has ever been found here.


The stuffed animals were an absolute gem with birds at quirky angles falling off branches save for their stapled claws. The skin of a buffalo’s two-headed calf was also priceless, one fetlock having broken free from it’s pins and dangling uncomfortably in the air. There was also the mandibular bones of a whale. Featured in the national collection of a land-locked country.


The rest of the museum was less interesting; armoury, stamps, coins, metal work and woodwork. But I did see a fascinating device called an Electric Gun. This seemed to be a rifle suspended within a large contraption (possibly the recharger). I didn’t see how it would be any use in a combat situation. Especially in a country with very little power (up to 12 hours a day of no electricity now and still counting).


I may have had my fill of Nepali museums now.