Situated at the garden house of zamindar Madan Babu at 17 Amrita Babu Road, the heart of the district town, the museum now draws very few visitors.

With a view to preserving the rare and unique relics of local architecture, sculpture, metal works, utensils, hand-written scripts on paper and leaf and commercial products collected from the palaces of zamindars of greater Mymensingh region, the then Deputy Commissioner of Mymensingh established it in 1969. Initially the collected articles were put on display in the museum.

The articles collected from Muktagacha zamindar palace include sports items, a flower vase made of stone, a compass, a tiger head, two deer heads, a wooden model of a house, a head of a wild bull, two antique clocks set on wooden frames, two statues of goddess Saraswati, three Vishnu statues made of black stone, a wooden Mahasreedhar statue, Bakharee (an ornament), a sculpture of a dragon and two big cutters, locally known as balchiras. Pottery, weaving machines, ornamental flower tub stands made of wood, three iron shelves and six candle stands were also collected from the palace.

The articles gathered from the Gouripur zamindar palace are five heads of elephants, a sofa set, two statues made by an Italian sculptor, a statue made of plaster of Paris and a huge shade used during hunting.

A rhinoceros hide and a large round table with a marble stone top are collected from Atharabari zamindar palace. The museum's collection also includes manuscripts, coins from different ages and varieties from landlords' houses including that of Dewanbari at Haybatnagar in Kishoreganj district. Mymensingh Medical College (MMC) presented a mummy of a peacock.

Assistant custodian of the museum, Rawshan Ara Akhtar pointed out that due to space constraint and insufficient showcases, many articles like coins and manuscripts could not be displayed. To the surprise of this correspondent, several relics were carelessly dumped on the floor. Two small rooms out of seven are being used as an office. Many valuable articles, including bamboo and cane decorative items, preserved birds, rare photographs and pottery were damaged during construction work between 1999 and 2001, she added.

The actual size of the collection is not available in the museum, though it began with 214 articles under the supervision of the Archaeological Department in 1989. Moreover, she asserted that the relics are at risk as miscreants can easily cross the boundary wall of the museum.

Several visitors expressed their dissatisfaction over the way the museum is being operated, saying, "The authorities should take immediate measures to deal with all the problems and the whole collection should be on display."

A museum source pointed out that the authorities should clearly state its location. At the moment a solitary signboard hangs at the gate of the museum. Moreover, the collection does not attract the younger generation; only five to 10 visit the museum every day. What's more, there is no clear strategy to persuade the public to contribute their antiques to the museum.