NIMHANS Museum
Heritage Museum, NIMHANS
The Heritage Museum, NIMHANS was established to commemorate NIMHANS becoming an Institute of National Importance and celebrate 160 years of the Hospital. The Museum was inaugurated by Sri Pranab Mukherjee, Hon’ble President of India on 22 December 2015.
The Building
The Museum building earlier housed the Children’s Pavilion, which was opened on Children’s Day, 14thNovember 1962 and included a child guidance clinic and a children’s ward with 30 beds. Outpatient services for children expanded in the 1970s and the children’s ward was moved out of this building. The Children’s Pavilion subsequently housed the psychiatric out-patient and later the Departments of Psychiatric Social Work, Epidemiology and Nursing.
The Display
The Heritage Museum is an interactive museum with 7 zones in the ground floor. These zones chronologically take the visitor through the historical development of the Mental Hospital, the formative years of the All India Institute of Mental Health, contemporary NIMHANS and the future. The Museum tells the story of the history and development from the time of the Lunatic Asylum in 1850 to NIMHANS through the medium of infographics, artefacts and narratives. Information is made interactive with the use of audio-video using digital technology.
The Museum captures the stories of pioneering doctors of the Mysore Government mental hospital, the architects of the AIIMH and NIMHANS. The visit of important dignitaries, including Presidents, Prime Ministers and Nobel Laureates to the NIMHANS campus is pictorially presented. The serene campus with all its flora and fauna is presented as an ideal nurturing and healing environment, a place for state-of-art care and high standards of academic and scientific achievements.
The Museum also provides an overall glimpse of NIMHANS, including the annual patient visits, training, research and publication by the faculty; NIMHANS in the popular media, innovations and contributions of NIMHANS and the range of activities carried out by the numerous departments. It also illustrates the various collaborations of NIMHANS, nationally and internationally.
Future Plans
There are plans to upgrade the museum in the coming year with more interactive displays on the brain and mind to engage the public in discourse on the functioning of the mind and brain in health and disease.
Contact details:
Heritage Museum,
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH AND NEURO SCIENCES
“Institute of National Importance”,
Hosur Road , Bangalore-560029 , Karnataka
Ph no:080-2699 5674
Email :heritagemuseumnimhans@gmail.com
Updated by AR on 22.8.2016
Verified by PM on 23.8.2016