Ramnagar Museum

The Ramnagar museum is also known as Saraswati Bhawan. The museum is in what used to be the Durbar Hall or the Public Audience Hall of the fort. The Ramnagar museum has rare collections of American vintage cars, bejeweled sedan chairs, ivory work, medieval costumes, gold and silver brocaded royal Palakis (Palanquins in the shape of a lotus flower).

It has elephant saddles carved out of silver, jewellery, costumes made of kimkhwa silk (finest product of the weavers of Varanasi), an impressive armoury hall with swords, old guns from Africa, Burma and Japan.

The old armoured matchlocks, ornate hookahs, daggers, portraits of Maharajas, black musical instruments which have turned white because of neglect of maintenance and there is a rare astronomical clock. This clock shows not only the time but also the year, month, week and day, and the astronomical details of the Sun, Moon and other planets. This clock was made in 1852 by the Astronomer at the Court of the Royal Palace of Varanasi. Many books illustrated in the Mughal miniatures style are also part of the collections. There are five hundred and thirty-five illustrations expressing Islamic ethos, each having a decorative border with ornate floral designs or cartouches.