Kanpur Sangrahalaya
Coordinates: 26°28′00″N 80°21′44″E / 26.4668°N 80.3622°E
| Established | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Location | Phool Bagh Grounds, Kanpur, India |
| Type | Museum |
Kanpur Sangrahalaya / Kanpur Museum (Hindi: कानपुर पुरातत्व संग्रहालय) is a museum in Kanpur, the industrial hub of Uttar Pradesh in North India. It is the official museum in Kanpur. It was built by the British as King Edward Memorial Hall in honour of Edward VII. It is a storehouse of artifacts and exhibits that tell the story of the events and people who have influenced the making of Kanpur city and tell many interesting details about the historical past of the city.
Importance
As it is the official museum, it is the primary local institution serving as source of information about history of Kanpur.
History
(Cawnpore, Manchester of Asia, in British colonial period)
KEM Hall was an orthopedic rehabilitation hospital after the end of World War I[1] and became Harcourt Butler Technological Institute in 1920.
European merchants who had settled in Cawnpore, felt the need for a European style amusement center in Cawnpore.
On the death of King Edward in Britain, the hall was initially established as a memorial to commemorate his 1876 visit to Cawnpore and was named as K. E. M Hall. The funds for the park were collected from European traders settled in Kanpur and Indian merchants.
The K.E.M. (King Edward Memorial) Hall was initially planned as a wooden dancing floor for Western style, ball room dancing. Due to outbreak of World War I in 1914, construction of the hall was interrupted. There was a regular hospital in Kanpur Cantonment for soldiers injured in the World War. As the facilities in this hospital were not adequate, the K.E.M. Hall was temporarily used to house wounded World War I British soldiers in the temporary hospital inside KEM Hall.
The hall construction was completed after the end of World War I in 1918. It was used by European settlers in India for cultural activities. Occasionally it was rented to rich Indian merchants for marriage ceremonies.
After independence in 1947, KEM Hall was renamed as Gandhi Bhawan. A part of this Gandhi Bhawan now houses a Municipal library and the Kanpur Sangrahalaya / Kanpur Museum.
Location
As the city of Kanpur has expanded, the Kanpur museum is located inside Phool Bagh Ground and is at the intersection of Mall Road and the Kanpur-Lucknow Road.
Establishment
The museum was established in 1999.
Collections
- Old colonial period artillery gun