Bihar Museum ranked 9th in 'World's 100 Best Museums' list – the only Asian museum in the top 10

30 October 2026 · English Environment & Ecology

Topics: States, Tax, Environment, Culture & Awards · 30 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)

News

In the 2026 'World's 100 Best Museums' list by the Germany-based international travel guide 'Worth a Journey', Patna's Bihar Museum ranked 9th (reports of 27–28 Oct 2026). It is the only Asian and only Indian museum in the top 10 – ahead of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (10th) and the Louvre, Paris (31st). Mexico City's National Museum of Anthropology is first. The ranking is based on algorithmic analysis checked by in-person visits.

Key facts

Background

• Art history: the Didarganj Yakshi is a standing female figure holding a chauri (fly-whisk), carved in Chunar sandstone with the mirror-like 'Mauryan polish'. It is generally assigned to the Mauryan period and was found at Didarganj on the Ganga in 1917.
• Museum: Bihar's story from the Stone Age onward – sculptures, coins, manuscripts and folk art; it has a Children's Gallery and a Diaspora Gallery. The third Bihar Museum Biennale was held in 2025. A roughly 1.5 km underground walkway to the older Patna Museum is planned.
• Patna (ancient Pataliputra): capital of Magadha and later of the Mauryan Empire, on the Ganga. The Greek envoy Megasthenes described it in his 'Indica'.
• Indian museums: India's oldest museum is the Indian Museum, Kolkata (1814, Asiatic Society). International Museum Day is 18 May (ICOM, since 1977); ICOM is headquartered in Paris.

Tamil Nadu link: the Government Museum, Egmore, Chennai (1851) is India's second-oldest museum, famous for the Amaravati Buddhist sculptures and Chola bronzes. A site museum at Keeladi, Sivaganga district, opened in 2023.

Source: Outlook Traveller, 28 Oct 2026; Curly Tales, 27 Oct 2026; NewsBytes; The CSR Journal

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