8/7/2021 ASI replica museum needs reprieve | Aζ South Asia

 
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ASI replica museum needs reprieve

Media/Scan, Opinion — timesofindia.indiatimes.com sent on
10th May 2016
New Delhi: Where in India would one find a statue of
Akbar? At Agra, which he favoured over Delhi as capital?
Or at Fatehpur Sikri, the city he laid out and made his
capital for 15 years? If you said 'aye' to both these places,
then you couldn't be more wrong. There is no statue of
Akbar or any other Mughal emperor anywhere in India. Yet
it is Delhi that honoured him with a life-size statue and not
too long ago. It stands at Children's Museum in south
Delhi.
It's quite all right for you to express disbelief when we tell
you this. Even we didn't know about it until we visited the
museum. And how did we reach the place? Well, that's
another story in itself.
Sandwiched between Siri Fort Auditorium and Siri Fort
sports complex, and almost hidden from public view, is this
museum run by Archaeological Survey of India. It's so
obscure that the friendly neighbourhood autowallah and
even guards at Siri Fort Auditorium don't know where it is.
But when you eventually find your way to this sprawling
expanse of green crowned by an impressive building, you
realise that it's a unique repository of curated replica works
that reflect the history of India as told by its myriad schools
of art and architecture that rose and perished over
thousands of years.
Yet obscurity isn't the only problem that the museum
suffers from; apathy, both public and governmental, has
been its undoing. Footfall is dependent on seasons; at other
times, the museum looks like a college during vacation.
The story of National Museum of Natural History wasn't
too different either. But that museum is now history,
following a recent inferno; this museum still has hope.

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8/7/2021 ASI replica museum needs reprieve | Aζ South Asia

The museum came about in 2008. And the staff say it was
mostly due to the efforts of noted archaeologist and former
superintendent of ASI's Delhi circle, K K Mohammed.
Anyone who has known Mohammed closely would
instantly realise that the museum has his thumbprint.
Whether they are Buddha statues of the Gandhara School
of Art or Chalukyan rock-cut architecture of the Ellora
Caves, all the exhibits cover Mohammed's interests.
"The idea was to introduce children to Indian history. The
whole museum was put together at a cost of Rs 35 lakh.
But sadly, we didn't quite get the kind of public support we
were expecting. Nothing much has changed even now,"
Mohammed said.
But he was less sanguine about the future of the museum.
"When we built this, we were accused of following RSS-BJP
propaganda. Now that they are in power, they are not
bothered about it. Nobody from RSS or BJP has visited it.
ASI itself is in a very bad shape due to the neglect of the
Union culture ministry. The Modi government has done
precious little for heritage or this museum. The future is
bleak," Mohammed said. He is now with the Aga Khan
Trust for Culture.
....

 Sunday, 11th January 2015 - The fake mistake

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