Discover the Wankhar Entymology Museum in Shillong

wankhar-entomological-museum-shillong-meghalaya-1-attr-hero

wankhar-entomological-museum-shillong-meghalaya-2-attr-hero

January

2.2 - 18.6 °C

February

3.7 - 21.2 °C

March

6.8 - 25.6 °C

April

10.1 - 27.1 °C

May

11.8 - 27.0 °C

June

14.7 - 27.1 °C

July

16.3 - 27.4 °C

August

16.2 - 27.3 °C

September

14.8 - 26.9 °C

October

10.9 - 25.2 °C

November

7.1 - 22.8 °C

December

4.0 - 20.1 °C

Major Airports :

Shillong Airport (Umroi Airport) (SHL)

Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (GAU)

Nearest Railway Station :

Guwahati Railway Station (GHY)

A family's legacy

In the state capital of Meghalaya, lies the beautiful legacy of an entomologist family – The Wankhar Entomology Museum. Preserved over a generation, this is India's only entomology museum. Owned by Mr Siddharth Kumar Sarkar Wankhar, this is a private museum with an outstanding collection of butterflies.

Legend has it that Kumar got married to a Khasi woman and upheld her surname ‘Wankhar’. Together, the couple decided to collect specimens of insects and display them.

Today the museum is under Mr. Sarkar's granddaughter who takes immense care of this museum and runs it very elegantly. She is the holder of this legacy and has proved to be the suitable heir with all her efforts to maintain the museum and its artefacts and collections.

The humongous collection

This collection of insects was not started a year or two back, but was started during British India in the 1930s and through this period, the museum had collected over 10,000 specimens which were meticulously curated for a perfect display at the museum.

Especially known for its butterfly collection, the museum has colourful and beautiful creatures and not just one but 1600 types of butterflies and moths displayed around. With that, the museum also has various stick insects and beetles displaying numerous species of them as well.

These displays are not just insects from the Indian subcontinent but are a huge collection from various countries that are well curated and well displayed with great hard work and determination by exhibitors.

With their displays, the museum is also an active participant in preserving rare butterflies and moths as they are top-tier participants in helping in the breeding process of rare moths and butterflies. One can simply say that Sarkar's granddaughter is truly holding and uplifting this legacy given to her by her grandfather.

in.gov.incredibleindia.core.models.impl.ImageUtilModelImpl@164d0fba

Timings

10:00 AM to 04:00 PM on Weekdays

10:00 AM to 01:00 PM on Saturday

(Closed on Sundays)

Beyond the museum

Take a step out and visit the Khasi Hills. Named after the Khasi tribe, the hills are full of scenic views and flying butterflies, moths and birds as well. Head over to the Nohakalikai Waterfalls, the tallest plunge waterfall in India with a height of 340 metres, a beautiful flowing white with lush greenery and all the beautiful insects flying around, truly creating a mesmerising view. Add to your astonishment with the double-decker Living Root Bridge, a bridge made out of roots of rubber fig trees that keep growing to further strengthen the bridge.