Gass Forest Museum, Coimbatore - Timings, Entry Fee, History & Artifacts

At a distance of 4 km from Coimbatore Junction, the Gass Forest Museum is a government-run natural history museum situated in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Located at Cowley Brown Road, it is one of the popular museums in Tamilnadu, and among the must include places in Coimbatore packages.

Gass Forest Museum is located inside the premises of the Forest College Campus, Coimbatore. J. A. Gamble, the conservator of forests for the Madras Presidency, made an aborted attempt to establish a forest museum in the province towards the end of the 19th century. A few years later in 1902, Gamble's successor, Horace Archibald Gass, succeeded in establishing a museum for forestry. During World War-II, the museum was closed to accommodate evacuees from Greece and Malta. After Indian Independence in 1947, the museum came under the administration Government of Tamil Nadu and is currently run by the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB). The museum was reopened for the public on 1st May 2015 after carrying out renovation works.

Initially, the museum was started in one of the rooms of the conservator's office building and was expanded and shifted to the present building in the year 1915. It is made of red stone and built-in British Gothic style. The museum is home to nearly 10000 exhibits. Of the rare artifacts in the museum is a piece of an asteroid which is believed to be several million years old, a stuffed albino crow, and a full-grown male stuffed Indian guar which was gifted to the museum in 1956 by Jayachamaraja Wodeyar, the last Maharaja of the princely state of Mysore. One can see an assortment of stuffed animals and birds including an attention-grabbing one of a brahminy kite capturing a chick.

This natural history museum is the first institution in India to house exhibits related to forestry. The forestry artifacts here include timber, non-timber forest products, wood crafts, wildlife, entomology, mycology, geology, ethnology, arms, forest engineering, and the environment.

Timings: 9 M - 1 PM & 2 PM - 5 PM, Closed on Saturday, Sunday, & Pubic Holidays

Entry : Rs. 40 for Adults, Rs. 20 for Children & Rs. 200 for Foreigners