Visitor Information
- Famous for: Photography, monuments, sight-seeing, history, ethnicity.
- Entrance Fee: 10 for adults and Rs. 5 for children
- Visiting Time: 9am to 4.30pm
- Visit Duration: 2 to 3 hours
A trip to the Andamans tucked away in between the deep ocean blues and tropical groves, is always a treat and a welcoming change. But it is not always about the leisure and fun. Understanding the ethnic and local heritage of this island is quite intriguing because it has managed to preserve it to this day. These are the following things one must keep in mind before visiting Zonal Anthropological Museum.
Traveller Tips
- Make sure you carry your ID cards with you.
- You need to pack accordingly to the season.
- Make sure you carry some handy snacks with you and plenty of water. Too much history can make you thirsty!
- You must take handy medicines and a first-aid kit with you.
Things to Do
- There is no shortage of things to do in this tropical haven.
- You can go for some water fun in the deep blues and indulge in some water activities like snorkelling, deep sea walking, pearl hunting, scuba diving etc. You can even go for a swim in the nearby oceans.
- A walk through the Anthropological Museum in Port Blair is a walk through the local culture and ethnic diversity of the Andamans.
- Plan a picnic for your loved ones on the sandy beaches or in the lush gardens of the Island.
- You can also go for a trekking expedition in the nearby mountains like the Munda Pahar Mountain in the Chidiya Tapu Island.
Availability of Guides
It is always best to avail guides from the official tourism office at Andamans or to consult with a good tour agency to make your trip more enjoyable and convenient. I won’t recommend picking a guide just randomly. It might cause inconveniences later on.
Best Time to Visit
Come summer and the Andamans just gives you that lovely tropical tinge. Though the heat can be a bit mean at times, you can cool off in the surrounding deep blue ocean. So now you know the best time to visit the Andamans. Just make sure you don’t visit the place in the raging monsoons.
How to Reach
If you want the complete experience of the Andamans then I would suggest that you should book tickets for a sail from Chennai. Enjoy three days of fun in the ocean blues and you are up for a treat. If you tend to be a bit sea-sick then don’t worry a bit because you can fly to the Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair.
Interesting Facts and Trivia About Zonal Anthropological Museum
- It is under the auspices of the Anthropological Survey of India.
- It focuses mainly on the ethnic tribes of the Onges, Jarawas, Sentinelese and Great Andamanese
- Out of these the Jarawas are still a very primitive tribe living in high seclusion.
- Another attraction of the Museum is an ethnic section on the Mongoloid tribes, Nicobarese and Shompens.
- These tribes have been subject to study by numerous anthropologists from all over the world.
- An intriguing fact is that they remain one of the most primitive tribal communities in the world today, particularly the Jarawas.
Nearby Attractions
- Samudrika Marine Museum
- Kalapani Museum
- Corbyn’s Cove
- Chidiya Tapu
- Red Skin Island
- Cellular Jail
- Forest Museum
- Rajiv Gandhi Water Sports Complex
- Chidiya Tapu Biological Park
- Marina Park
Nearby Restaurants
- Mandalay Restaurant
- Adi Bengali
- The Love Garden
- Amaya
- Paradise Café
- Feel Good Restaurant and Karaoke Bar
- Lighthouse Residency
- Milkyway
- CFC Chilly’s Family Restaurant
- Corbyns’s Delight
When you reach a place with so much history and culture in its cradle then you definitely need to dig deep and understand that. The Anthropological Museum in Port Blair is a proud ovation to the ethnicity and culture of the Island’s long traditional and cultural antiquity. What amazes one is that the Island has still kept intact its local tribal ethnicity and has tucked them away from the eyes of modernity.
