Steam Engines & Motorcades From Gurgaon's Heritage Transport Museum [In Pictures]

In 1994, a young Tarun Thakral (CEO of New Delhi’s Le Meridien Hotel) returned from Paris post completing his MBA, chanced upon a ram-shackled 1932 Chevrolet while travelling to the Shekhavati region of Rajasthan. This was the car that triggered the collector’s passion/obsession for vintage cars and ultimately, a catalyst in the eventual conceptualisation and opening of India’s Heritage Transport Museum. Speckled with everything from classic horse carriages to old-world steam engines, and onward to luxurious motor-machine transportation, the overarching theme is one which weaves together the evolution of transport in this country, and the journey makes for spectacular viewing when laid out in such a grandiose fashion.

The vintage gems that call this place home tell the tale of a bygone era, which is exactly what its founders might have hoped to achieve.

It’s the first private museum of its scale in India yet the thing that truly sets this museum apart is its incredibly unique approach to museum culture as a whole. While the country may boast several stunning museums, this particular one has been constructed with a lighter, more western model in mind, making for a far more experiential and experimental space. Thakral credits this to his inspiration from many travels to Europe and USA where he became fascinated by their museum culture. In his own words to Platform Magazine,

More interestingly still, the museum is actually revamped every 3-4 months for the audience in an effort to keep it dynamic.

Sub-divided into multiple mini galleries, the museum has a multitude of collections on offer and even inhabits a discovery centre where you can ‘learn about the working mechanism of a vehicle by interacting with its parts.’ Got a free day in the capitol? You know where you need to be.