The Bihar Museum in Patna has secured the ninth position in The World’s 100 Best Museums 2026, a global ranking published by travel guide Worth a Journey, placing it first among the Asian museums featured on the list. The recognition puts an Indian cultural institution in the global top 10, alongside some of the world’s best-known museums, including Madrid’s Prado Museum, Russia’s State Hermitage Museum and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Bihar Museum is the only Indian institution among the 100 museums listed in the 2026 ranking. The list covers museums dedicated to art, history, archaeology, science, technology and open-air heritage. Of the 100 institutions, 10 are in Asia, with India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia represented.
The achievement is significant for Bihar’s cultural profile, bringing international attention to a museum that presents the region’s history through archaeological collections, ancient sculptures, coins, manuscripts and folk art. Its galleries trace Bihar’s past from the Stone Age to modern times, while a dedicated Children’s Gallery and chronological displays seek to make the collections accessible to younger visitors.
Top 10 museums in the world
According to Worth a Journey’s 2026 list, the top 10 museums are:
| Global rank | Museum | Location |
| 1 | Museo Nacional de Antropología | Mexico City, Mexico |
| 2 | Museo del Prado | Madrid, Spain |
| 3 | Louisiana Museum of Modern Art | Humlebæk, Denmark |
| 4 | State Hermitage Museum | St Petersburg, Russia |
| 5 | Kunsthistorisches Museum | Vienna, Austria |
| 6 | Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum | Şanlıurfa, Türkiye |
| 7 | Museum of the Second World War | Gdańsk, Poland |
| 8 | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, USA |
| 9 | Bihar Museum | Patna, India |
| 10 | Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, USA |
The first-ranked Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City is known for its collections relating to the pre-Hispanic civilisations of Mexico, including the Aztec, Maya and Olmec cultures. Madrid’s Prado Museum, ranked second, is renowned for European masters such as Velázquez, Goya, Bosch and Rubens. The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, at number three, combines modern and contemporary art with an architectural setting and sculpture garden overlooking Denmark’s Oresund coast.
Worth a Journey says its rankings are generated through a proprietary algorithm that analyses millions of data points drawn from hundreds of thousands of venues worldwide. According to its published explanation, the system adjusts for local customs and differences between categories, applying the same rules to eligible venues irrespective of location or ownership.
The organisation also says it conducts on-site visits to ranked venues. These visits serve as checks against the algorithm’s results; where observations on the ground do not match the computed findings, the system is recalibrated and the list adjusted. Worth a Journey describes the final rankings as a combination of algorithmic analysis and on-site verification.
For the museum category, the eligibility criteria include institutions with a permanent collection or permanent exhibition that are open to the public as museums. Eligible categories include art, history and archaeology, science and natural history, technology and transport, and open-air museums. Memorial museums, wax museums, illusion-based attractions, brand attractions, exhibition halls without collections, children’s museums, zoos and aquariums are excluded from this particular list.
India’s representation in the list is limited to Bihar Museum, which is ranked ninth globally and first in Asia. Japan accounts for five of the 10 Asian museums, while Indonesia has two entries. Malaysia and South Korea have one each, alongside India. The Asian selection includes history, art, science and technology museums, reflecting the range of institutions covered by the global list
Bihar Museum’s wider significance
Bihar Museum’s collection and presentation offer a window into one of the subcontinent’s historically important regions. Its galleries feature ancient sculptures and archaeological objects alongside regional folk art, while its Children’s Gallery provides an educational component for younger audiences. The museum’s modern architecture, open courtyards and chronological arrangement of exhibits form part of the visitor experience described by Worth a Journey.
