
One of the museums which attract lot of visitors is known as Uruswati Himalayan Folk Art Museum. It is located near International Roerich Art Gallery in Naggar at Roerich Estate in Kullu.
History of Uruswati Himalayan Folk Art Museum
The word Uruswati is derived from the Sanskrit language and the meaning of this word is Light of the Morning Star. When you visit International Roerich Art Gallery in Roerich Estate, you should also visit Uruswati Himalayan Folk Art Museum which is just located near the place. In 1928, this museum was founded by N.K. Roerich, a Russian Master Painter and his family. The name of this museum at that time was Research Institute of Naggar.
This Russian Painter was born in Russia and left the country after the Russian Revolution of 1917. After travelling all over the world, he settled in Kullu with his family. A Renaissance man, he did lot of distinguished work in many fields and was nominated for Nobel Prize several times by University of Paris. He died in Kullu in 1948 at the age of 73. He left the institute as his legacy to the future generation. The idea behind founding of this institute was to create a center of study in various fields, such as Tibetan Medicines, Indian Medicines and ethos of Himalayan region. This study also included the History of Himalayan region. The name of the Research Institute in Naggar was changed to Uruswati Himalayan Folk Art Museum.

Today, the museum displays various examples of local and Russian folk art and the costumes. It also displays the original paintings created by N.K. Roerich, his followers and the students. Also, it displays several other items such as painted dishes, stone carvings, old music instruments, the collection of dolls etc.

The museum displays the collection of crystal pieces, door frames and some beautiful quotations of Agni yoga. The collection which is displayed in the Museum includes the different traditional Himalayan costumes of various regions such as Lahaul-Spiti, Kullu, Ladakh, Tibet and Pahari. You can enjoy the display of beautiful idol of various gods and goddesses; photograph of Bodhistav the Lord Buddha and some Pahari Paintings. You can browse through the books which were written by Roerich and purchase the postcards outside this museum.