Alipore Museum occupies the former colonial prison where many figures of India's independence movement were held. The cells connected with Jawaharlal Nehru, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Sri Aurobindo give the museum its strongest pull, and the gallows area makes the history feel less abstract than a standard display case.
The museum focuses especially on Bengal's role in the freedom struggle. Exhibits recreate prison life, and evening sound-and-light shows are sometimes staged in Bengali and Hindi.