NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MALDIVES

The National Museum is housed in a wing of the former Sultan's Palace that survived destruction. The three-story building now houses the national treasures. The visit does not exceed one hour if you are really attentive. In front of the museum, a commemorative plaque recalls the attempted putsch of 1980. Inside, two Japanese motorcycles with bullet holes refer to the second attempted putsch against President Gayoom in 1988. The museum opened in 1952 and is mainly devoted to the pre-Islamic period.

Ground floor: most of the exhibits illustrate the Islamic period of the Maldives. There is a collection of lacquers, palanquins, daggers and spears, as well as a number of other ceremonial objects. The dholhi-dhaankolhu, a large palanquin, was supported by servants and followed the procession in case the Sultan wished to be carried. Relegated to a room and relatively poorly presented, despite their historical interest, are the discoveries made by Thor Heyerdhal during the archaeological excavations he conducted in the 1980s throughout the archipelago. Most of them are sculptures from Buddhist temples in the southern atolls. There are also reliquaries and a conical stone carved with five faces, which evokes the practice of Tantric Buddhism, close to Hinduism. Some of the carved stone palettes show an imprint of Buddha's foot.

First floor: here are exposed musical instruments of the type used during ritual festivals and, in particular, bodu beru, large drums with two skins decorated with black, yellow and red lacquer patterns. You will also see models of fishing dhonis that you will have seen in life size in the port.

Second floor: This level of the museum houses objects that belonged to representatives of the six dynasties that succeeded each other from the 12th century to 1932. There are parade clothes and parasols, seals and jewellery, and some coins. The Feyli Kolhu, the parade dress of Thakurufaanu, the national hero who liberated the country from Portuguese rule, is on display. Two of the most important objects in the museum are a white coral Buddha head and a carved wooden panel from the Hukuru Mosque with an Arabic inscription revealing the date of the conversion of the Maldives to Islam.