Museum in an airport

The National Museum in Kolkata is not only the oldest but also the largest museum in India. It has six main sections comprising 35 galleries.

It is also called the Indian Museum and it also the earliest and the largest multipurpose Museum not only in the Indian subcontinent but also in the Asia-Pacific.

But in two weeks time, the National museum is all set to lose this distinction to a new upstart which is coming up in Mumbai, India’s commercial capital.

In just a little over ten days, largest museum where the entry will be on the basis of international airline tickets, will open its glass doors to the public.

The newly constructed museum in housed in the International Airport in Mumbai and it has 7,000 artefacts covering a range of  people, kingdoms and eras. What is more The museum will have a three kilometre long art wall which will feature works by over 1,500 artists.

This museum is built between the check-in and baggage claim and it is part of Mumbai's new integrated terminal T2. The art wall and the museum is so designed that it will showcase the best of Indian art, craft and designs to visitors, Indians and foreigners alike
The art wall and the art programmes will be one of the biggest of its kind in the world and no airport anywhere in the world will have this facility.

The installation at T2’s departure area occupies 80,000 sq ft and it will house ancient artifacts and finds some as old as the 10th century. A range of ancient articles including sculptures, statues, paintings, wood work, old temple chariots and articles of daily, religious and social use collected from villages, towns and cities will be on display.
The T2 is slated to open on January 15 and initially only passengers boarding or alighting from international carriers will be allowed to have a look-in. With a handing capacity of  40 million passengers annually, the museum could comfortably push Paris’ Louvre, currently the most visited art museum in the world with 9 million annual visitors, off its perch.
Similarly, the arrival corridor too has been given a massive brush up. It has works by several eminent contemporary artists such as Nek Chand, Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh, Nilima Sheikh, Mithu Sen, Riyas Komu  Desmond Lazaro. All of them and of course several others have worked on the art wall that is 18 metres high and 1.2 km long. Like the departure wall, this wall too can be viewed from all levels.
Where there is Mumbai, can Bollywood be far behind. The best of Bollywood too is present here.

When the new integrated terminal will open on January 15, Air India’s Newark-Mumbai flight will be the first to arrive at the new terminal which is called T2.
T2 will have bigger areas for check-in, security check and baggage delivery. Spread over 439,000 square metres, the MIAL which will operate the airport is a joint venture of the GVK group, the Airport Authority of India, Airports Company of South Africa and Bids Services Division, Mauritius.

All of them are together executing the Rs 12,380-crore airport modernisation project. The work on the new terminal building began in February 2009.
While the old international terminal had 80 immigration counters, T2 will have 140.