Gujari Mahal

Gujari Mahal is a 15th-century palace in Gwalior that Raja Man Singh built for his queen Mrignayani, a Gujar woman. Legend says the king watched her separate two fighting buffaloes by their horns and asked to marry her; one of her conditions was a palace supplied with water from the Rai River. The building has served as a museum since 1922.

The collection spans sculpture, terracotta, inscriptions and coins. Highlights include a 1st-century Yaksha Manibhadra, a 6th-century Mahishasuramardini, Gupta-era panels of music and dance, the Shalbhanjika from Gyaraspur, and 4th- to 5th-century images of Ram and Sita from the Pawaya excavations. Terracottas come from Mohenjo-daro and Ujjain, stone and copper plate inscriptions are in Brahmi, Devanagari and Persian, and the coins, in gold, silver and copper alloy, date from the 3rd century BC into the 20th century AD.