Kalmykia Republican Museum of local lore is situated in the street of Jangar. There are unique exhibits of the history, culture and archaeology of the Kalmyk people. The Museum bears the name of its founder Nicholas Palmov.

The Museum was founded in March 1921, its Initiators and founders made outstanding figures of P. V. Rykov, N. N. Palmov. Thanks to him were gathered a wealth of ethnographic and archaeological materials, which laid the Foundation of the first collections of the Museum of Kalmyk. The opening of the first exposition took place in the summer of 1931, During the German occupation of the city the Museum was completely destroyed. The second time the Museum opened in January 1960, after the return of the deported Kalmyks in Elista.

Prior to the construction of a new building on the street of Jangar, the regional Museum, housed in two small buildings on the street Suceava. Today in Kalmykia Republican Museum of local lore holds about 70 thousand exhibits. Exhibition area of the Museum is 357 sq. m. the Museum is divided into several departments, namely: Department of funds, the display section devoted to the history of the region and the Department of protection of historical heritage and monuments. The most valuable Museum collections are: collection of objects of Buddhist worship, the numismatic collection, rare books collection, the collection of archaeological objects and ethnographic collection.

The Museum often hosts seminars, exhibitions, conferences and themed evenings. In Kalmykia Republican Museum of local lore has scientific library and an archive.