New Delhi Toilet Museum Now Open

Ever wondered what a museum dedicated entirely to the history of toilets would be like? If that peculiar question ever crossed your mind, you need to seek professional help! But if you really want to know, you can visit Sulabh in New Delhi, India or just browse this section of our website where we bring the museum onto your screens, virtually.

The Museum

Museums as repositories for the preservation and exhibition of the objects of historical, scientific and cultural interest are found all over the world. But rare are the museums that display the evolution of toilets and their various designs.

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, the Founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, a pioneering non-profit voluntary organisation (NGO) in the field of Sanitation in India, envisioned the need for the setting up of a museum of toilets in the sprawling campus of his central office at Mahavir Enclave, Palam Dabri Road in New Delhi, India and has consultative status with Economic and Social Council of the U.N.The idea engaged his mind for long, eventually leading him to make hectic worldwide search for minutest details of the evolution of toilets, as also of various toilet designs used in different countries at different points of time. Sulabh International is grateful to the professionals, embassies and high commissions in setting up this museum by furnishing information on the subject and also providing details / photographs of various toilet designs used in their respective countries.

The Museum has been established with the following objectives :

• To educate students about the historical trends in the development of toilets;
• To provide information to researchers about the design, materials, and technologies adopted in the past and those in use in the contemporary world;
• To help policy makers to understand the efforts made by predecessors in this field throughout the world;
• To help the manufacturers of toilet equipment and accessories in improving their products by functioning as a technology storehouse; and
• To help sanitation experts learn from the past and solve problems in the sanitation sector.