New Delhi:
The National Museum in New Delhi is being considered as a staging area for assembling and preparing displays curated for the proposed Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum, people familiar with the matter said.
"The government is also looking to hire a seasoned museologist to head the National Museum as Director General (DG) as part of a planned overhaul of the institution", an official said.
The post of DG has been vacant for nearly a year since Professor BR Mani completed his term, according to people familiar with the matter. Joint Secretary Gurmeet Singh Chawla currently holds additional charge as DG. The proposed appointment comes as the government considers changes to the National Museum's functioning and its role in the development of the new museum.
Established in 1949, the National Museum moved to its permanent premises on Janpath in 1960. It has 29 permanent galleries and collections spanning several millennia of Indian history. Its departments cover archaeology, anthropology, arms and armour, decorative arts, manuscripts, numismatics and epigraphy, paintings, jewellery, Central Asian antiquities, and pre-Columbian and Western art.
Its holdings include objects from the Harappan civilisation, sculptures, bronzes, miniature paintings, coins, manuscripts, jewellery, textiles and archaeological artefacts documenting India's artistic and cultural history. The museum also houses arms and armour, decorative objects and antiquities from Central Asia.
Around two million objects have been assessed as part of preparations for the Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum, of which nearly 20-30 per cent are expected to be accommodated in the new institution, people familiar with the matter said. The assessment is expected to help determine which objects will be selected for the new museum.
The proposed use of the National Museum as a staging area would involve assembling and preparing displays for the new institution. Details of the arrangement, including the facilities to be used and the number of objects that may be handled at the National Museum, are under consideration for various curated exhibitions.
The Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum is being developed in the historic North and South Block buildings in New Delhi. Envisioned as a museum tracing India's civilisational history, it is expected to have around 30 galleries covering literature, languages, scripts, spiritual traditions, science, mathematics, medicine, architecture, crafts and the performing arts.
NDTV earlier reported that the museum's narrative would include the Vedas, Smritis, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, alongside the evolution of Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other traditions. The project is expected to draw objects from museums across India, with exhibits organised around historical periods and themes. The buildings are being adapted for museum use while retaining their heritage character, with digital technologies planned alongside physical displays.
The proposed museum is intended to present India's cultural and civilisational history through artefacts and thematic galleries. Its development involves repurposing the existing government buildings in the Central Vista area for public museum use.
"The National Museum's proposed role in preparing displays would bring its facilities and curatorial expertise into the preparations for the new institution. The government is also looking to appoint an experienced museum professional to lead the Janpath institution" the person mentioned above added.