pictures inside museum

georgt

a simple question but important to me to receive feedbacks.
Is it allowed to take digital pictures inside indian museums?
Tripod and flash no matter.
thanks!

crispian66

ask at the desk...ime shure its cool anyway.

Nick-H

You will be charged extra to take the camera inside

You will be charged a lot more for a camcorder

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Lugubert

In the Natl. Museum in Delhi, it is (at least was) a small fee for a still camera and considerably more for video. Flash seemed to be OK most everywhere; don't remember if tripods were allowed. BUT in the section for the Indus Valley culture, no photos at all were allowed. A pity. I would have liked a picture of my own of the Mohenjo-Daro dancing girl. Have to be more sneaky next time. The curator of that section, no less, caught me before I got to her. No fine, no getting thrown out though; we had a long and interesting talk in his office after some initial arguing.

TimMakins

There are no rules that cover all of India. Some let anything in. Some charge a flat fee. A lot charge more for video. Some forbid flash, or tripods. A good guidebook, such as Footprint, will often tell you in advance, but not always of course. You must just go and see.

The ban on flash is a good one, in my opinion. The light from the flash can really damage ancient paintings and textiles. Far better to buy the postcard if its available. If not, do without. Is it really sooooooooooooo important to get that photo? Far better to preserve artefacts for the next generation. Luckily, modern digital cameras can shoot in remarkably low light so a flash isn't so necessary these days. Remember to check your flash won't come on automatically.

Tim in England

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crvlvr

Tim's right.. Rules are not consistent. Some Museums, like the Salar Jung in Hyderabad, do not allow any pictures. Most other places will charge a fee. Although itsbecoming diffcult for the authorities to enforce these rules, thanks to camera phones.

Casey

The museum in Kolkata does not allow you to take anything in. I had to check my shoulder bag, including my camera at the front entrance.

New-South-Welshman

Not that it was interesting, wasn't allowed to take photos inside the Bahai Lotus Temple in Delhi.

I don't understand why pictures aren't allowed in some places. Can someone explain this to me?

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machadinha

I suppose in many cases it does have to do with concerns about flashlight damage, or with them not wanting you to put together your own freebie art book or postcard collection just like that (or in case of temples, with insensitive intrusions). I did find it got rather annoying and/or costly sometimes in India though, e.g. being charged for a camera in a bag that you weren't gonna use anyway but just naturally carry with you for the day (being of the tourist species after all) and that there'd be no place to stash it either, and I gave some places a miss because of it.

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georgt

I have been travelling around india for the last three months, in some places, like temples,museums and other sighseens, camera wasnt allowed, my principle is that I go where I can document my visitation, otherwise the world I see, leaves the time it founds.
When I go inside a temples I learned to be aware if the "executive office" allow people to carry cameras inside, if it doesnt it is certainly because it represent an intrusion to the sacred area, however if you really need to make photos of the temple you can always apply for a special permission and pay money for it, on some occasions I was even allowed to take picture of the sanctum sanctorum, although not the important ones.Usually the museums that dont let you take pictures of their material, are private museums, for any personal reasons you may think of, the owner retain that right, certainly it is not for fear of the flashlight, indian philosophy doesnt care about preservation, when one thing is done it is done forever and hopefully replaced by another.

rab

I went to Uluru at dawn and the experience was near ruined by dickheads not knowing how to turn off their flash settings

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georgt

If I may follow up your post, could you elaborate a little about such Uluru experience at dawn time?

Lugubert

No bags etc. allowed, but camera was no problem. I think there was a not too crippling fee.

The procedure in Chennai was a bit tedious - forms to fill in with personal details and purpose of visit, passport to be shown and a fee in the higher museum range.

robotvoice

if that generalization were true why would there be stuff in the museum in the first place?

georgt

infact it is not a generalization, where museums are not included, I am speaking of the art history background found everywhere which is not preserved against corruption.