Tripura State Museum

Tripura State Museum is housed in the former Ujjayanta Palace in Agartala, Tripura. Established in 1970 and shifted to the palace in 2013, it is the largest museum in Northeast India. The museum displays stone sculptures, terracotta, bronze images, tribal arts, textiles, and historical artifacts reflecting Tripura's royal heritage and diverse indigenous cultures. Its location in the white palace complex with Mughal-style gardens makes it a central cultural landmark of the city.

Visitors can expect to explore the grand white Ujjayanta Palace, a former royal residence with domes, tiled floors and Mughal-style gardens and lakes. Inside, galleries on two floors display archaeological stone sculptures from Unakoti, Pilak and other sites, bronze and terracotta images, coins, inscriptions, royal memorabilia, tribal crafts, textiles, ornaments and dioramas of Tripura's indigenous communities. The visit is primarily indoor museum exploration with interpretive labels and guided tours.

The museum was established in 1970 and was originally located elsewhere in Agartala. In 2013 it was shifted to Ujjayanta Palace, built between 1899 and 1901 by Maharaja Radha Kishore Manikya Debbarma as the royal palace of the Manikya dynasty. The palace, designed in Indo-Saracenic style by Sir Alexander Martin, served as the seat of Tripura's princely state until 1949 and later housed the Tripura Legislative Assembly until 2011 before being converted into the state museum.

The museum preserves and presents Tripura's diverse cultural heritage, including archaeological finds from ancient sites like Unakoti and Pilak, Hindu and Buddhist sculptures, and extensive ethnographic collections representing the art, crafts, textiles, ornaments and daily life of Tripura's tribal communities. It serves as the principal institution for understanding the region's history, royal legacy and indigenous traditions.