The Don Bosco Museum in Shillong is located at East Khasi Hills District in Mawlai. It is a
part of DBCIC, Don Bosco Centre for Indigenous Culture, and is open to the public from 2003. It is a seven storey museum and attracts tourists from
all parts of India and also from different parts of the world with its rare and large collection of artifacts and architectural beauty. You can visit the museum on all days of the week and it
opens from 09.30 am to 05.30 pm during the summer season and from 09.30 am to 4.30 pm during the winter season. On Sundays the museum opens at 1.30 pm.
Don Bosco Museum Shillong | Image Resource : flickr.com
I reached the museum at 11.00 am and after taking the entry fee got inside the museum. It was a large building with seven floors and the skywalk, which was added to it recently. The skywalk
provides you a 360 degree view of the city of Shillong and the surrounding area. Another interesting thing that I saw in the museum was a map of North East India in fiberglass, which was 28 ft by
25 ft in size. I was told that soon another map of Meghalaya in fiberglass will be added.
There were about 14 galleries in the museum and each one was provided with multimedia presentations and other facilities. The
Alcove Gallery had 22 alcoves and at each alcove stands a representative of the tribe to give you a warm welcome. The language Gallery contains charts that show different languages in the world,
namely Asia, India and North East India.
In the Photo Gallery I saw a collection of photographs, some of them rare black and white photographs. The Musical Instruments Gallery contained a collection of musical instruments mainly from
Meghalaya and other states in North East India. The Art Gallery had a collection of paintings and artifacts from different parts of North East India.
I also visited other galleries in the museum and I must say that it taught me a lot about the culture and traditions of the people in North East India. After visiting the galleries I walked
through the skywalk and had an excellent view of the Shillong city.