Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery

The Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery is a prominent museum and art gallery located inside Sayaji Baug (Kamati Baug) in Vadodara, Gujarat. Established in 1887 and completed in 1894 under Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, it is housed in an Indo-Saracenic building designed by R.F. Chisholm and Major Mant. It is notable for its diverse collections of art, archaeology, natural history, and ethnology, including European paintings, Mughal miniatures and an Egyptian mummy.

Visitors can explore a two-storey museum building within Sayaji Baug garden. The ground floor houses archaeology, natural history and ethnology sections with geology, zoology, anthropology displays, skeletal remains and an Egyptian mummy with coffin. The upper floor is the Picture Gallery with European paintings, including works by British artists, originals and copies of Old Masters, Mughal miniatures, Tibetan art and works collected by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. The building features Indo-Saracenic architecture with domes and arches set in a landscaped garden.

Founded by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III in 1887 and opened in 1894, the museum was designed by architect R.F. Chisholm with Major Mant in Indo-Saracenic style. The Maharaja collected art and artifacts from Europe and Asia to create a public museum for education and culture. It was developed alongside Sayaji Baug and reflects the Gaekwad era's patronage of arts, education and public institutions in Baroda State.

The museum is a major cultural institution of Vadodara showcasing Indian and European art, archaeology and natural history. Its Picture Gallery preserves European paintings, Mughal miniatures and Tibetan works collected by the Gaekwads, representing cross-cultural artistic exchange. It serves as an educational resource and a key attraction within Sayaji Baug, reflecting the city's heritage as a centre of art and learning under the Gaekwads.