Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
A view of Brașov’s Old Town.
Romania • 12 days, 11 nights
Legends of Romania: Castles, Ruins & Culinary Delights
from
Balkans road trip
Bosnia and Herzegovina • 9 days, 8 nights
Balkans Road Trip: Serbia, Croatia & Bosnia and Herzegovina
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
The ‘Old Secretariat’ government building in New Delhi.
The 'Old Secretariat'
This set is inspired by a Roman arena.
Bozdağ Film Platolari
The Sea Water Distilling Plant.
Sea Water Distilling Plant
Contemplative paths.
Ayo Rock Formations
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Names on the bartop.
The Dive
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Wortley built the wooden backpack she used while retracing Alexandra David-Néel’s journey from a chair she found on the street in London.
How Elise Wortley Climbed Mont Blanc in 1830s Women’s Attire
29 days ago
Simplicity is key: Just a slice of bread with a sprinkling of salt and pepper is the perfect accompaniment.
The Sweet Second Life of Creole Cream Cheese
29 days ago
My rendition of frog legs, popping mushroom curry, pad prik khing with salted egg yolk, and sweet khanom thuai.
Recreating My Favorite Meal From Thailand
29 days ago
Inside London’s Gorgeously Curated ‘Art Restaurants’
29 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All India Bengaluru Neuropathology Brain Museum

Neuropathology Brain Museum

India’s only Brain Museum displays over 200 fascinating ways that your brain might kill you.

Bengaluru, India

Added By
Maya Prabhu
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
A formalin-fixed human brain.   Maya Prabhu
A formalin-fixed human brain.   Maya Prabhu
Some of the many brain specimens on display.   Maya Prabhu
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Sections of human brains, gathered by pathologists during autopsy between the late 1970s and today, are preserved in formalin solution and encased in hard, clear plastic. That means that the specimens—be they examples of trauma, cancer, infection, infestation or birth abnormalities—can be turned, and viewed from all angles.

A highlight of a visit to the Brain Museum is the most hands-on anatomy lesson one could hope for this side of a medical school. Visitors are encouraged to take a real human brain into their bare hands, while a staff scientist introduces you to its geography. The tour may also include up-close-and-personal introductions to a lung, a heart, a liver, a bundle of spinal nerves, and sundry other human organs that the scientists who run the museum have served up for you to explore.

Unlike some other collections full of pickled anatomical things in jars—those of the Hunterian or Grant Museums in London, for instance—Bangalore’s Brain Museum boasts no antique vibes. It looks like a classroom because it sort of is.

The Museum is currently housed in a single room on the campus of the National Institute for Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS). The institute, founded in 1847 as the Bangalore Lunatic Asylum, is a major center of clinical medicine and postgraduate study in India. Originally conceived purely as a teaching and research tool, the Neuropathology Brain Museum opened to the public in 2010 when a new Neurobiology Research Centre afforded it the space to grow. The aim of the museum was partly to spread awareness about safe practices: expect to hear some grisly cautionary tales.

As much as the collection is focused on the brain, there are other marvels on the museum’s shelves: diseased eyes, still fringed with lashes; lungs; spinal cords. A selection of human fetuses, some developmentally normal, some abnormal, share a rack with various animal brains. A nearby poster explores theories of comparative embryology.

Related Tags

Museums Brain Collections Medical Museums

Know Before You Go

The Brain Museum’s guided tours are open to walk-ins on Wednesdays and Saturdays after 2:30 pm. Entry is free.

Atlas Obscura Adventures

Delhi and Rajasthan: Colors of India

Discover Colorful Rajasthan: From Delhi to Jaipur and Beyond.

Book Now

Community Contributors

Added By

mayaprabhu

Edited By

Ella Morton

  • Ella Morton

Published

September 24, 2018

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Neuropathology Brain Museum
Hosur Main Road
Bengaluru
India
12.94047, 77.598779
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Hogenakkal Falls

Hogenakkal, India

miles away

Hanging Pillar of Lepakshi

Lepakshi, India

miles away

Keshava Temple

Somanathapura, India

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of India

India

Asia

Places 354
Stories 107

Nearby Places

Hogenakkal Falls

Hogenakkal, India

miles away

Hanging Pillar of Lepakshi

Lepakshi, India

miles away

Keshava Temple

Somanathapura, India

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of India

India

Asia

Places 354
Stories 107

Related Stories and Lists

Visitors Can Touch Human Brains at This Indian Neuroscience Institute

medical museums

By Maya Prabhu

Related Places

  • Lima, Peru

    Brain Museum

    Tucked behind the Institute of Neurological Science down a decrepit street resides the largest display of human brains in Latin America.

  • The Doctor was likely on his own so everything had to be within easy reach.

    Athens, Georgia

    Carter-Coile Country Doctors Museum

    This tiny museum honors the rural country doctor experience.

  • The 19th century pharmacy.

    Toulouse, France

    Musée de l'Histoire de la Médecine (Museum of the History of Medicine)

    A journey through the history of medicine throughout the centuries.

  • A view of an exhibit in the atrium.

    Ann Arbor, Michigan

    Sindecuse Museum of Dentistry

    This museum explores the history and development of dentistry and dental technology in Michigan.

  • Museo de Anatomopatología

    Mexico City, Mexico

    Museo de Anatomopatología (Museum of Pathological Anatomy)

    Located in a veterinary school, this macabre exhibit displays the effects of animal diseases.

  • Museum interior.

    Guthrie, Oklahoma

    Oklahoma Frontier Drugstore Museum

    A museum and apothecary garden devoted to the history of frontier medicine.

  • Wilson Greatbatch’s tool box.

    Clarence, New York

    Greatbatch Barn

    This exhibit pays tribute to the “humble tinkerer” who invented the implantable pacemaker.

  • Copenhagen, Denmark

    Medical Museion

    A novel collection of medical curiosities housed in an 18th-century surgeon training academy.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.