An interactive museum will be built in Bengaluru dedicated to the Indian Constitution and the history behind India’s struggle for independence. This will be one of two museums that will come up in an eight-acre plot in Nagadasanahalli near Yelahanka at the cost of Rs 120 crore, the Karnataka government said on Thursday.
The museum will function as a centre for interpretation and showcase the objective, structure, and the challenges faced by Dr BR Ambedkar and other architects of the Constitution. The museum will also chronicle the time leading up to the time of framing the Constitution from the days of freedom struggle.
Minister for Social Welfare Priyank Kharge who is spearheading the project, said, “The Constitution of India, for the first time in the world, envisioned a truly equal, just society and guaranteed every citizen of India, irrespective of their caste, class, religious beliefs, language, and economic status equality in law. The Constitution celebrated the diversity and difference of the Indian society and erased all hierarchies. It is the basis of our modern nation. In the current scenario, this cannot be stressed enough. Hence the museum.”
It will also have a well-equipped and modern library with a compilation of the Constituent Assembly debates and their Kannada translations along with a vast collection of books and recordings of the Dr Ambedkar’s speeches, Kharge said.
The second museum coming up in the same location will be dedicated to Maharishi Valmiki and his epic, the Ramayana, and will be built at the cost of Rs 60 crore. It will also have sections documenting the life, traditions, art and culture of the various tribes in Karnataka is also on the cards. It will also inform visitors about freedom fighters from Halagali Beda community including Jadaga and Veera Sindhura Lakshmana.
Karnataka Deputy CM G Parameshwara said, “It is our duty, as citizens and as participants in the nation's progress, to take a full and active part in how the country is governed. It is our duty to understand and honour the Constitution of India and learn the struggles that went into making it. This museum will give every citizen a unique insight into it. At the same time, the Maharishi Valmiki museum will help us appreciate the literary and spiritual heritage of our land.”