Museums in Hyderabad are no longer merely repositories of artefacts and royal collections but have evolved into spaces that foster cultural exchange, preserve traditional craftsmanship, and create shared public experiences in an increasingly polarised world, said conservation architect and curator Anuradha S. Naik. She was delivering a lecture at the State Museum in Hyderabad on Monday, on the occasion of International Museum Day.

Speaking on the theme ‘Museums Uniting a Divided World: Hyderabad-A Case Study’, Ms. Naik examined how three of Hyderabad’s major museums, the State Museum, the Salar Jung Museum, and the Chowmahalla Palace, serve as spaces where people from different regions, cultures and countries interact through history, heritage and art.

Beginning with the State Museum, where the lecture was held, Ms. Naik described it as one of Hyderabad’s most important public museums alongside the centrally-run Salar Jung Museum and the privately-managed Chowmahalla Palace Museum, which she has been associated with for the past two decades. “Museums in the city attract visitors not only because of their collections but because they create emotional and cultural connections that transcend boundaries,” she said.

Ms. Naik said the State Museum records annual footfalls of nearly 25,000 visitors while the Salar Jung Museum attracts over 10 lakh visitors annually, with foreign tourists forming a small but significant component.

Turning to Chowmahalla Palace, Ms. Naik described how the former seat of the Asaf Jahi Nizams was converted into a museum by the family of the last Nizam, Nawab Mir Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah, through a not-for-profit trust aimed at giving something back to Hyderabad. She said the palace, once restricted to only a select few, was opened to the public and has since become deeply embedded in the social and cultural life of the city.

She said Chowmahalla Palace, which received around 20,000 visitors annually when it opened in 2005, recorded over 6.25 lakh visitors in 2025. According to her, the museum has generated employment for over 100 people and boosted the micro-economy around the Old City by encouraging the growth of heritage-themed shops, cafes and antique stores.

Also present at the event was Telangana Minister for Tourism and Culture Jupally Krishna Rao. Addressing the gathering, Mr. Rao announced that the government would allocate ₹5 crore for a specialised training and recruitment programme for tourist guides aimed at generating employment opportunities for local youth at historical destinations while ensuring visitors receive high-quality information.

On the occasion, the Minister released official brochures alongside two books titled ‘Paramara Jagaddeva’s Inscriptions in Telangana’ and ‘Stucco Sculptures in Centenary Museum’.