Shri Pratap Singh Museum

Shri Pratap Singh Museum, commonly known as SPS Museum, is located at Lal Mandi in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on the banks of the Jhelum River. Established in 1898 by Maharaja Pratap Singh, it is the oldest museum in the Kashmir Valley. The museum houses over 80,000 objects including archaeological artifacts, manuscripts, miniature paintings, textiles, coins, and decorative arts representing the cultural heritage of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh.

Visitors can expect a heritage museum building with multiple galleries displaying archaeological finds, ancient sculptures, terracotta, numismatic collections, historic manuscripts, miniature paintings, traditional Kashmiri shawls, carpets, papier-mâché, arms and armour, and natural history specimens. The galleries are arranged thematically with labelled exhibits, display cases and information panels. The museum is set in a landscaped compound near the Jhelum River in central Srinagar.

Established in 1898 by Maharaja Pratap Singh of Jammu and Kashmir on the proposal of British archaeologist Sir Aurel Stein and Maharaja's brother Amar Singh. Initially housed in the Jhelum river pavilion, it was later shifted to its present building at Lal Mandi. The museum was created to preserve and display archaeological and cultural artifacts excavated from sites in Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh, and has since been expanded and renovated by the Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums, Jammu and Kashmir.

The museum preserves and showcases the composite cultural heritage of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, including Kashmiri, Dogra and Ladakhi traditions. Its collections of shawls, carpets, papier-mâché, manuscripts and religious sculptures reflect the region's artistic, craft and scholarly traditions and serve as a major centre for cultural education and research.