Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the renovated Bapu Museum in Vijayawada on Thursday. The museum has been renovated at a cost of Rs 8 crore, and was re-opened on Thursday after remaining shut for nearly 10 years. CM Jagan also unveiled a bust of Pingali Venkayya, the designer of the Indian national flag, at the museum.
Speaking about the renovation process, G Vani Mohan, Andhra Pradesh Commissioner for Archaeology and Museums said, “For the first time in India, a museum is renovated with well-equipped advanced digital interactive display technologies like immersive projection theatre, augmented reality, virtual reality, interactive digital display panels, interactive digital display cabinets, digital books and interactive kiosks. These technologies will give viewers a world-class experience in visualizing history.”
The museum has been renovated by the state Department of Archaeology and Museums, and showcases several idols and historically important articles. As many as 1,500 historical artefacts, belonging to different eras from 10,00,000 BC to 19th century AD, have been displayed. These include prehistoric, protohistoric and early historical objects, Jain and Buddhist sculptures, Hindu sculptures, pottery, plaques, beads, bangles, iron implements, coins, inscriptions, textiles and paintings, among others.
The museum is located in the Victoria Memorial building in Vijayawada, built in an Indo-European architectural style. The foundation for the old building was laid in 1887. The building is famous for having housed a meeting of the All Indian Congress Committee (AICC) in 1921, when Pingali Venkaiah presented the tricolour flag to Gandhi in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Tanguturi Prakasam and others.
The building was converted into a museum only in 1962, with the state Department of Archaeology and Museums naming it the Victoria Jubilee Museum. A new museum building has been added to the premises more recently. Located in the heart of Vijayawada city, it is one of the biggest archaeological museums of Andhra Pradesh.
With IANS inputs