Established by the Department of Archeology in the year 1984, the Government Museum is a prime tourist attraction of Jaisalmer. It was built to highlight the multifaceted traditional and cultural heritage of the Great Thar Desert. Prominent crowd pleasers of the museum are its paintings, inscriptions, coins, statues of stone, embroidered dresses and handicraft items. A distinctive attribute of the museum is its rich collection of marine and wood fossils, limestone and sandstone that gives insight into the geological era. It also features some rarest sculptures from the 12th century Kiradu and Lodurva townships. The fossil records highlights various hard-shelled invertebrates and vertebrate animals, and even a collection of soft-bodied creatures like sea anemones and young insects. A beautiful glass case holds the state bird of Rajasthan - the Great Indian Bustard. Apart from these, tourists from all around the world visit the museum to set eyes on the rare collection of items of Rajasthani tradition. 72 stone sculptures, 13 paintings, 65 coins, eight inscriptions and 179 embroidered dresses and handicrafts are its repertoire.