50,000 artefacts to be shifted from Patna Museum to newly-built Bihar Museum
Patna,(BiharTimes): As high as 50,000 artefacts of a century old Patna Museum are set to be shifted to the Bihar Museum, which is coming up over a kilometer away in Bailey Road of the state capital.
According to Chaitanya Prasad, principal secretary of art, culture and youth affairs department, Lord Cultural Resources, the master consultant for Bihar Museum project, has finalised the list of artefacts to be shifted from Patna Museum to Bihar Museum.
“Broadly, artefacts from ancient India to 1764 AD would be transferred to Bihar Museum and those beyond 1764 would be kept at Patna Museum,” he was quoted in the Times of India.
Majority of the 50,000 artefacts, belonging to pre-1764 era, are proposed to be placed in three blocks of the History Gallery, namely A, B and C. Several other less important artefacts would be placed in visual gallery.
Asked whether Patna Museum would lose its sheen due to the transfer of 50,000 artefacts, Prasad said: “I don’t think so. Whatever artefacts are kept on display, constitute only 20% of total artefacts with Patna Museum. The remaining 80% are kept in the store. The 50,000 artefacts to be shifted to Bihar Museum include those on display as well as the ones in store.”
Prasad added that the department is contemplating to open art galleries and learning centre at Patna Museum, apart from putting some artefacts from the store in display area.
According to the TOI report the origin of the existing Patna Museum is traced back to the discovery of Mauryan Palace at Kumhrar in the excavations of 1913, which motivated the authorities to develop an establishment to house antiquities of the region. Initially, the antiquities were kept at the then commissioner’s bungalow. In 1917, they were moved to the north wing of the Patna high court. The construction of the present museum also started in 1917 and it was opened for public in 1928.
The process of transfer of artefacts from Patna Museum to Bihar Museum was initially scheduled to start from October 18 with shifting of 2200-year-old lifelike sculpture of Didarganj Yakshi (means female earth spirit) to the new museum. However, the department has now decided to retain Yakashi at Patna Museum for the time being. State government would observe October 18 as Art Day.
“Art Day was supposed to be celebrated at Bihar Museum and the sculpture of Yakshi was to be transferred there from Patna Museum to mark the occasion. However, it has now been decided to celebrate Art Day at Patna Museum itself. Accordingly, the shifting of Yakshi has also been deferred,” said a senior official at Patna Museum.
A recent ban imposed by eastern bench of National Green Tribunal on construction of buildings having a built-up area of more than 20,000 square meters in Bihar also acted as a stumbling block in celebration of Art Day at Bihar Museum.
