Roerich Art Gallery, Naggar
Roerich
Art Gallery is situated 2km uphill from Naggar bus stand. The
gallery originally was N.K. Roerich's residence, later turned
into the art gallery by his son Svyetoslav Roerich.
The art gallery is run as Roerich Heritage Museum by a trust formed
by the governments of Himachal Pradesh and Russia. Prime Minister
of India is the chairperson of this trust.
Nicholas K. Roerich
embraced stupendous qualities. He was a master artist, a scholar,
a writer, an archaeologist and an explorer. His reverance for
the Himalayas inspired him to paint thousands of paintings of
the Himalayas, sentinels of India.
A few of his excellent creations have been housed at the Roerich
Art Gallery, in Naggar. The gallery preserves original works of
Roerich on the Himalayas, quotations from Roerich and valued words
of the visitors and the admirers.
The gallery remains open from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M., except Mondays.
Uruswati Himalayan Folk Art Museum, Naggar
This tribal and folk art museum was founded by Professor and Madame
Nicholas Roerich in 1928, then known as Research Institute, Naggar
where history, ethos, the spirit of the Himalayan region and the
traditional Indian and Tibetan medicines were studied. It was
renamed as Uruswati Himalayan Folk Art Museum in 1993. Uruswati
is an Sanskrit word, meaning 'light of the morning star'.
This
folk art museum is situated 100m uphill Nicholas K. Roerich Art
Gallery. Russian folk artifices, music instruments, dolls, paintings
and dishes are displayed in the museum. Some masterly oil paintings
by Russian painters and family photographs of the Roerichs are
displayed In the entrance gallery. In the upper storey of the
museum some fine works of Indian painters are displayed which
have been donated to the museum during various painting workshops
organized here.
The museum exhibits reproductions of Roerich's works, stone carvings,
woodcarvings like doorframes, crystal pieces and some quotations
from Agniyoga. The museum demonstrates traditional costumes of
Kullu, Lahaul- Spiti, Tibet and Ladakh. Some excellent stone Carvings
of Vishnu, Ganesha, Durga, Krishna, Narsimha and Shiv- Parbati
are housed inside. It also displays some beautiful pahari paintings
and a photograph of Lord Buddha.
The museum remains open from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. throughout the
week.