Sulabh International Museum of Toilets: A museum of its kind
Posted on January 2, 2017 by Ghoomophiro
About the museum
With an aim to deal with the current scenario’s most crucial issue of hygiene and sanitation, The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets was founded by Bindeshwar Pathak, a renowned social reformer of modern India. The one of its kind museum laid its foundation in the year 1992 and is run by the Sulabh International. The first initiative to public sanitation and hygiene was taken by the introduction of pay-to-use public toilets in a small village in Patna, Bihar.
The chief aim of the Sulabh International mission is to promote sanitation and hygiene habits and provide public toilet facilities throughout the nation. The museum has been listed under the category of “10 museums around the world that are anything but mundane” by Time magazine. It is the world’s only toilet museum and is probably why to hold so much importance in modern times.
Location and How to reach
The museum is located in the suburbs of New Delhi. The best mode to reach the museum is by metro. The nearest metro station to the museum is Dwarka Sec-9 from where you can take an auto/cab to reach.
What is inside?
The museum is not a very big one with a lot of storeys and many rooms, it is a small place with just one long room that displays all the exhibits. From Ancient to Medieval to Modern, it has exhibits from almost 50 countries. On the walls of the museum, you will find short poems, jokes, and cartoons related to toilet humor displayed on the boards.
Here you will find and learn about the different stages of the development of toilet system, of last five thousand years from the third millennium B.C. to the 20th century. These include brick commodes of the Harappan Civilization, modern toilets which have the electrically controlled flush system, toy-commode from China, and the model of the world’s biggest toilet complex at Shirdi in Maharashtra.The most amusing display of all is a replica of a full-size throne from the court of the French King, Louis XIII, which has a hidden commode underneath it. It is believed that the King used it to relieve himself while he uses to sit on the court.
Some interesting displays
Some of the interesting displays of the museum is a flush pot devised by Sir John Harrington, a courtier of Queen Elizabeth I in 1596. Apart from that, you will find here a gem-studded bided of Queen Victoria, highly decorated commodes from Austria and table-top toilets from England. Some of the toilets of this period are such disguised that it hard to believe for anyone. One of them is a french toilet that looks like a stack of books, and an English one which resembles a treasure chest.
A lot of visitors from all across the world come to study about the interesting facts and learn about sanitation safety and hygiene methods. So when are you visiting next to gain some educational facts?
Definitely one of the most unusual museums in the world. It would be good to visit and see these interesting things they are showing. Maybe in 50 years from now, toilets that we use will be shown in this kind of a museum.