Wax museums have gained a rapid popularity across the globe. Ever since Madame Tussauds in London captured headlines and garnered widespread attention, other wax museums have sprung up everywhere, much to the delight of fans. The practice of developing life size wax figures adorned in real clothes can be traced back to the funeral practices of European royalty. The oldest museum in the United States is the Hollywood Wax Museum located in Hollywood, California. However, in the modern age, the most famous name associated with wax museums is Madame Tussauds.
In India too, wax museums have gained a rapid popularity. Scattered across different states, they have witnessed a large number of visitors, all eager to pose and catch a glimpse of their favorite personalities. A visit to a wax museum of India quite exciting, as well as a unique experience. If you have not visited a wax museum yet, you are missing out on something enjoyable.
The biggest wax museum in India, was opened on 10th November 2014, in the Rajarhat area of Kolkata. A unique museum also exists in the form of “Melody World” at Mysore, India, which was opened to visitors in 2010. Jaipur too, got its wax museum in 2016.
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Louis Tussauds’s wax museum, Bengaluru
(Image Source – Wikimedia.Org)
A visit to Louis Tussauds’s wax museum, located at Innovative Film City in Bengaluru, allows you to get photographed with the likes of Mona Lisa, Shakespeare, Beatles or any other personalities that you adore. An interesting fact about this museum is that it has been curated by Louis Tussaud, the great-grandson of Marie Tussaud. It houses an interesting variety of collection, combining both fiction and reality.
Entry Timings: 10:00 am – 7:00 pm (weekdays), 10:00 am – 7:30 pm (weekends)
(Image Source – deepjeevani)Located on the wonderful hills of Lonavala in Maharashtra, Celebrity Wax Museum stands out for its spaciousness and is graced by the presence of famous celebrity wax models. Situated on the old Mumbai-Pune highway just before the Lonavala town, it has attracted an impressive amount of visitors since its inauguration, and is easily one of the most popular wax museums in India. The museum consists of wax replicas of Narendra Modi, Shivaji, Kapil Dev, Prabhu Deva, Angelina Jolie, Sharad Pawar, Anna Hazare, A R Rahman and Michael Jackson, besides many others.
Entry Timings: 9:00 am to 10:00 pm
K Dev Bhoomi Wax Museum, Mussoorie
People head to Mussoorie to experience the heavenly weather and revel in the magnificent sights all around. However, here is another reason to visit Mussoorie, one of the most famous hill stations of India. The K Dev Bhoomi Wax Museum, located in the Dehradun district of Uttarakhand, is counted amongst the famous wax museums in India. Here, you will come across the exhibits of some of the most famous personalities in the world including Jawaharlal Nehru, PM Narendra Modi, Swami Vivekananda, Baba Ramdev, Adolf Hitler, Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein and Barack Obama, besides others.
Entry Timings: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Mother’s Wax Museum, Kolkata
Mother’s Wax Museum, located in the Asansol city of West Bengal, is the amazing creation of the artist Susanta Ray. The museum contains life-size models of freedom fighters Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore and Jagdish Chandra Bose, besides others. Singers from Manna Dey to Kishore Kumar and Bengali superstars like Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar, are some of the other celebrities found in this museum. According to Ray, its artist, all the wax dolls have been created following the original Madam Tussauds, so if you want to get a glimpse of Madam Tussaud wax museum in India, this is the place to come to.
Entry Timings: 12:00 noon to 7:30 pm (Mondays closed)
Melody Wax Museum, Mysore
Melody Wax Museum, located in close proximity to the Mysore Maharaja Palace (3km), is clearly one of the largest wax museums in South India. The building inside which this museum is housed, too, is believed to be more than 90 years old. This museum was created by an IT professional called Shreeji Bhaskaran. Managed and maintained by sophisticated technology, it contains almost 19 galleries, with each gallery providing a unique experience of the world of music and arts.
You will also come across 110 life size wax statues in this museum belonging to various bands and stages. The popular representation of bands are, Indian Classical music such as Hindustani and Carnatic, Punjabi Bhangra, Middle East, Chinese, Tribal, Jazz, Hip Hop and Rock, to name a few. Exhibitions which touch upon social significance are also found here. A special attraction is the statue of the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore, Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar.
Entry Timings: 9:30 am to 7:00 pm
Jaipur Wax Museums, Jaipur
When it comes to the most visited wax museums in India, Jaipur Wax Museum, situated in the premises of Fort Nahargarh, wins the first place. The museum showcases wax and silicon statues of personalities who have not only been outstanding achievers in their own fields, but have also contributed to the society as a whole. Sculpted by Mr. Susanta Ray, India’s senior most wax sculptor, the statues are displayed in the “Hall of Icons” section as well as the “Royal Durbar” section of the fort. A unique feature of the statues here is the liveliness which is reflected in the sculpted images. Along with this, every statue has been given a background to support and complement its fascinating history.
Entry Timings: Daily 10:00 am to 6:30 pm
