Srimanthi Bhai Memorial Government Museum, Mangaluru

The Srimanthi Bhai Memorial Government Museum in Mangaluru occupies the former home of Col. V. R. Mirajkar, a medical officer in the British Indian Army who served at Lahore during the Second World War. Built in 1935 on a plan close to buildings in Milan, the house looks like a ship. Mirajkar gave it to the Karnataka government in 1955 with his collections, and it opened as a museum named after his mother on 4 May 1960, inaugurated by Chief Minister B. D. Jatti.

The galleries cover Tulunadu's bhuta worship idols and masks, Palaeolithic and Neolithic tools, coins, arms, musical instruments and replicas of art from Harappa, Gandhara, Konark and other sites. The first floor holds Mirajkar's own handicrafts and personal belongings, gathered in India, China, Japan, Tibet, Persia and Europe. A gallery of rare photographs follows Gandhi's life, and a children's section has puppets and Yakshagana dolls. Outside are hero stones, sati stones, inscriptions, naga stones and cannon from Jamalabad Fort.