Government Museum, Cuddalore

The Government Museum at Manjakuppam in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, opened in 1989, and its collections cover the history, culture, plants and animals of the district. A sculpture garden greets visitors with a Shivalinga, Nandi, Vishnu, Narasimha, Surya, Chandikeswara and monkey figures, and the entrance holds a display on the development of Tamil script, a dinosaur model and a fibreglass Kali.

Inside are stone sculptures of Surya, Subramanya, Dakshinamurthi, Navanitha Krishna, Virabhadra, Bhairava and the Saptamatrikas, while the bronze gallery shows Ganesa, Vishnu, Nataraja, Somaskanda and Krishna. Natural history exhibits range from South Indian timbers and fibres to a swan, a bear, lizards and snakes, along with fossil wood and ammonites. Upstairs are Kattunaickkan tribal objects, Stone Age tools, musical instruments and farm implements of the Kalvarayan hill tribes. The museum also runs lectures, exhibitions and training programmes.