The first National Museum of the Maldives was inaugurated on 11 November 1952 by Prime Minister Mohammed Amin Didi. The old three-storey museum complex was located in Sultana Park in Male', which was part of the grounds of the Royal Palace, built in the 17th century and destroyed in a fire in 1968.
The new museum building is also located in Sultana Park. The structure was designed, built and funded by the Chinese government. The National Museum was officially opened on Maldives Independence Day on 26 July 2010.
The architecture of the building is controversial, but inside contains a large and well-preserved collection of historical artefacts that trace the history of these isolated islands. The exhibit begins on the ground floor with galleries dedicated to the ancient and medieval periods of Maldivian history. Exhibits include weapons, religious paraphernalia and household items, as well as many wooden plates with exquisite fine carvings in Arabic and Maldivian, wood paintings with engraved scenes of the planting of Islam in the Maldives in 1153. There are also halls from the pre-Islamic era, exhibiting thrones, royal umbrellas and furniture, costumes and shoes, coins, jewellery, weapons and armour, textiles, ceremonial dresses, turbans, shoes and belts for special occasions, mats and examples of traditional embroidery.
On the first floor are galleries of exhibits representing the modern period. These include examples of vintage technology - the country's first gramophone, telephone and massive computer. Unusual exhibits include costumes and photos from the famous underwater government meeting held in 2009 by President Mohammed Nasheed and a significant marine collection, the highlight of which is the six-metre long skeleton of the Longman's belt-toothed whale, a member of the endangered beaked whale species.
Unfortunately, the museum was vandalised. During protests against former President Nasheed in 2012, a mob of religious extremists stormed the halls and its most valuable exhibits, some 30 ancient Buddhist coral stone sculptures from the pre-Islamic period, were destroyed.
