Alwar Government Museum has three sections: Paintings Section, Armoury Section and Archaeological Section. It contains nearly 1000 objects of industrial interest both local and from outside. The Section of Paintings contains about 2,000 specimens of the Mughal and Rajput schools, and manuscripts of historical and literary importance. The miniature paintings and books were truly rare. The books are rare Persian manuscripts with illustrations. One of the books is written by scratching the paper with nails. Among the famous Mughal era paintings are the Gulistan of S’adi (the Garden of roses), Bostan (the Garden of Spring) and Waqiat-e-Babri (Mughal Emperor Babar’s autobiography). The collection of arms numbering about 15,000 in all is a magnificent one, most of which are of historical importance while some have also artistic value. The collection of swords is interesting. Large number of arms belongs to Rajput armory. Some of the swords displayed here belong to historical figures like Nadir Shah, Akbar and Jahangir. One interesting sword is of Turkish origin, and is probably as old as 7-8th century A.D. The Archaeology Section exhibits two beautiful sculptures of a lion and an elephant, a stuffed tiger, a stuffed leopard and some other stuffed animals which belonged to the royal family. Also on display are some other artifacts and musical instruments dating to the historical times. Costumes of the royals are also on display.
School and college students are taken round by the custodian. Guide books are available for the different sections and labels are provided in English and Hindi. Though a good library which was attached to the museum since its inception has now been made an independent department, books on archaeology and museology have been retained for the museum and are available for consultation by interested readers. The Alwar Museum library contains nearly 8,000 books and manuscripts in Sanskrit, Persian, Urdu, Hindi and English. The museum custodian is under the Superintendent of Museums, Rajasthan. The museum building is adequate with storage space. Amenities like fans and seats are provided for the visitors. The collections in the museum mainly and especially of the Art Section are donated by the ruler of Udaipur. The archaeological objects have been collected by exploration.