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NIMHANS Brain Museum, Bengaluru
The NIMHANS Brain Museum is a free medical teaching collection of more than 400 human brain specimens on the NIMHANS campus in Bengaluru, where a guide explains each case and lets you hold a real brain. It opens to the public only for guided sessions: Wednesday 14:30–16:30, and Saturday 10:30–12:30 and 14:30–16:30.
A teaching collection inside the Neurobiology Research Centre of the national mental-health institute: around 400 human brains and related specimens, gathered over decades of autopsies and kept to show what strokes, injuries, infections and tumours actually do to tissue. The guided tour is the point: staff explain each case plainly, and visitors are given the chance to hold a preserved brain. Entry is free, but the hours are narrow: Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays only. Cameras are not allowed.
A medical teaching collection open to the public, carefully explained; two days a week only
Timings: two days a week
The museum opens to the general public only for guided sessions:
| Day | Sessions |
|---|---|
| Wednesday | 14:30–16:30 |
| Saturday | 10:30–12:30 and 14:30–16:30 |
It is closed on second Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. A session lasts one to two hours. Arrive at the start of a session: visits are guided.
Entry fee and rules
Entry is free. Cameras are not allowed inside: the specimens are human tissue kept for medical teaching.
Schools (from Grade 8) and colleges need an appointment by email; groups get a two-hour session, at most 35 students per batch, and are not booked on Wednesdays or Saturdays, which are kept for the public.
What you see
The museum belongs to the Human Brain Tissue Repository in the Neurobiology Research Centre of NIMHANS, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, which is the nodal centre of India's ICMR-funded brain bank network. Its collection of more than 400 brain specimens was built up over 50 years of autopsies, from normal anatomy to rare diseases, and is kept to show what strokes, injuries, infections and tumours do to tissue.
- A real human brain in your hands: the visit includes live neuroanatomy demonstrations with real specimens, and visitors can touch and hold a preserved human brain.
- Disease specimens set beside healthy ones, explained case by case.
- Other organs: smokers' lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas, voice box and intestine, and a human skeleton.
- Panels on brain health: basic facts, common disorders and how to look after your brain.
It is a medical teaching collection of real human tissue, plainly explained. If anatomical specimens make you uneasy, it helps to know this before you go.
How to find it
The museum is on the NIMHANS campus on Hosur Road, inside the Neurobiology Research Centre (postal address: Human Brain Tissue Repository, Neurobiology Research Centre, NIMHANS, Bengaluru 560029). NIMHANS is a working hospital, so ask at the gate for the NBRC building. Phone: +91 80 2699 5786.
❓ FAQ
How to visit the NIMHANS Brain Museum?
Come to the NIMHANS campus on Hosur Road for a public guided session: Wednesday 14:30–16:30, or Saturday 10:30–12:30 and 14:30–16:30. Schools and colleges book by email.
Is the NIMHANS Brain Museum free?
Yes, entry is free.
What are the NIMHANS Brain Museum timings?
Wednesdays 14:30–16:30 and Saturdays 10:30–12:30 and 14:30–16:30. Closed on second Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Can you touch a brain at NIMHANS?
Yes. The guided session includes a neuroanatomy demonstration where visitors can hold a real preserved human brain.
Can I take photos?
No, cameras are not allowed in the museum.