Description of the attraction
The first National Museum of the Maldives was opened on November 11, 1952 by Prime Minister Mohammed Amin Didi. The old three-story museum complex was located in the Sultan Park in Male, which was part of the Royal Palace, built in the 17th century and destroyed in a fire in 1968.
The new museum building is also located in the Sultan Park. The facility was designed, built and funded by the Chinese government. The official opening of the National Museum took place on the Independence Day of the Maldives on July 26, 2010.
The architecture of the building is controversial, but inside contains a large and well-preserved collection of historical artifacts that allows us to trace the history of these isolated islands. The exhibition begins on the ground floor with galleries dedicated to the ancient and medieval periods of the history of the Maldives. Exhibits include weapons, religious paraphernalia and household items, as well as many wooden plates with exquisite fine carvings in Arabic and Maldivian languages, wood paintings with engraved scenes of the spread of Islam in the Maldives in 1153. In addition, there are halls from the pre-Islamic era, thrones, royal umbrellas and furniture, costumes and shoes, coins, jewelry, weapons and armor, textiles, ceremonial dresses, turbans, shoes and belts for special occasions, rugs and samples of traditional embroidery are exhibited.
On the second floor, there are galleries of exhibits representing the modern period. Among them are examples of ancient technologies - the country's first gramophone, telephone and massive computer. Unusual exhibits include costumes and photos from the famous underwater government meeting held in 2009 by President Mohammed Nasheed and a significant marine collection, the highlight of which is the six-meter skeleton of Longman, an endangered beaked whale.
Unfortunately, the museum was destroyed. During protests against former President Nasheed in 2012, a crowd of religious extremists burst into the halls, and its most valuable exhibits, some 30 ancient Buddhist coral stone sculptures from the pre-Islamic period, were destroyed.
