Must visit wax museums in India

Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu
Wonder Wax, located near the Kanyakumari railway station, is said to be India’s first wax museum. The 3-D paintings make the display of wax statues quite interesting. The museum is open daily, from 7am-8pm and tickets cost Rs 100/head. Take your children around, and tell them stories about the noted personalities.

Kochi, Tamil Nadu
Kochi has plenty of attractions for the visitors. While on a city tour, drop in at the Celebrity Wax Museum in the Oberon Mall in Kochi.  Created by Sunil Kandalloor, it has an interesting mix of personalities cast in wax. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Albert Einstein, V R Krishna Iyer, K Karunakaran, Pandit Jasraj, Bhaichung Bhutia, Angelina Jolie and many others. The museum is open 9am to 9.30pm. Tickets cost Rs 100/head; children below 5 years and height of 120cm enter free. You can buy tickets online. Check their website for offers and packages.

Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu
Picturesque Kodaikanal is a balm to the tired urban eyes. But children may want something more. Drop in at the wax museum while you are travelling to or returning from the Pillar Rock. Wax World is spread over two floors of a building and charges an entry fee. Apart from eminent personalities, they have displays depicting tribal life, the Last Supper by Da Vinci, a neon-lit stage depicting a musical session in progress—you can pretend to be a musician among the statues and play on drums. On the way out, you can buy souvenirs made of wax.

Kolkata, West Bengal
Located in the upcoming New Town, on the north-eastern fringe of Kolkata, the Mother’s Wax Museum is located on the top floor of the building named Finance Centre. The main museum has been divided into nine separate sections, with life-size wax statues of eminent personalities sculpted by Susanta Ray. The museum remains open from Tuesday-Sunday, from 12pm-7.30pm; ticket counter closes at 7pm. Tickets cost Rs 150/head. Online booking possible. Some of the personalities have been cast in action; for example, Sir Jagadish Bose sits in his scientific laboratory; Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar are in the process of recording a song, Diego Maradona scoring a goal, etc. One of the most popular statue is that of actor Amitabh Bachchan and almost nobody forgets to click a picture with him. Tiny tots will revel in the opportunity to click pictures with their favourite cartoon characters such as Chhota Bheem and Chutki. You can include a visit to the eco-tourism park, Prakriti Tirtha located right opposite the museum.

Lonavala, Maharashtra
Lonavala, off the Mumbai-Pune highway, is a popular getaway from both the cities. The hill side is dotted with many picturesque resorts and hotels. This Children’s Day, you can drop in at the Celebrity Wax Museum, located on the old Mumba-Pune highway. Easy to locate, the museum remains open from 9am-9pm. Tickets cost Rs 150/head; children below 5 years and height of 120cm enter free. You can buy tickets online. Check their website for offers and packages. The brainchild of Sunil Kandalloor, the wax statues cover noted personalities from many walks of life – religion, social service, history, art, literature, pop music, etc. There are wax statues of Shivaji Maharaj, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, B R Ambedkar, M S Subbulakshmi, Kapil Dev, Charlie Chaplin, etc.

Mysore, Karnataka
Operated by the same group which runs the wax museum in Kodaikanal, the Melody World Wax Museum is a theme-based one. The museum is located near the famous Mysuru (Mysore) Palace, in a heritage building. Besides wax statues of eminent personalities, including members of the Wadiyar family, there are statues of musicians playing on different musical instruments. The museum has the largest collection of musical instruments in Karnataka. The museum is open from 9am-7pm. 

Ooty, Tamil Nadu
This popular hill station of Tamil Nadu has many attractions for children, including boating in the Ooty lake and pony rides. The museum, Wax World, run by the same people who run wax museums in Kodaikanal and Mysore, is situated opposite the Lake Boat House. The focus is on wax statues of eminent Indian personalities who have excelled in the fields of history, heritage and culture. Visitors have complained about poor maintenance and being troubled by parking attendants.

Information: The displays in wax museums are usually changed after a period of time. Most museums allow you to take photographs. A few even offer use of props. But do be careful—do not touch the statues or spoil them in any way. It takes many hours of hard work to make these statues. Check the latest timings and price of entry tickets before planning a visit.