Harappan Civilization

The first gallery on the ground floor of the National Museum is the Harappan gallery. The collections in this gallery grew out of the discoveries of the pioneering excavations made during early 20th century, and later after the India's independence in the year 1947. The Harappan civilization is believed to be one of the oldest world civilizations together with Egypt and Mesopotamia. Objects in this gallery remain the richest and most important of their kind in the world.

The Harappan civilization developed along the mighty river, Indus and for that reason it is also known as the Indus Valley Civilization. Most of the exhibits in this gallery come from important centers of the Harappan Civilization and ancient towns like Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Nal (now in present-day Pakistan), Dholavira, Kalibangan, Lothal and Rakhigarhi (in India).

The Harappan civilization is identified as a Bronze-age civilization because many objects have been found that are made up of copper based alloys.  For example, the gallery displays the famous ‘dancing girl,’ a bronze figurine that provides an insight into the advances made in art and metallurgy, as well as the hairstyle and ornaments prevalent during the period. The gallery depicts the comparative chronology of four major Bronze Age civilizations in 3rd millennium B.C.E. which existed simultaneously across the world. It also shows the major Harappan sites and representation of the layout of a street from Dholavira which gives the visitor a picture of the urban civilization that flourished during the time.