Baldah Museum

Baldah Museum situated at Wari, Dhaka near the Christian cemetery. It was established in 1925 as a 'house museum' by Narendra Narayan Roy Chaudhury, zamindar of Baldah, an estate of Dhaka district. Before his death in 1943, he executed a will according to which the whole of the expenditure for the museum and garden should be met from the estate. The ground floor of the residence had been utilised to display antiquities. In the porch were placed two cauldrons. One long rectangular hall contained a mixed collection of coins, beads and books on art. A second room showed models of village and town life, and ivory and silver filigree works. In the third room was a rich collection of arms and weapons. In the fourth room were coral and other treasures from the sea. These collections were later transferred to the Dhaka Museum (now the National Museum of Bangladesh). The garden, popularly known as baldah garden was developed simultaneously. Although relatively small in size, it still possesses a unique collection of native and exotic plants, and is maintained as a special place of interest. [SM Humayun Kabir]