MUSEUMS, ARCHAEOLOGY AND ARCHIVES
A DEVELOPMENT OF MUSEUMS India is rich in her cultural heritage. Museums have been the centres of culture, education and recreation, in the country in the past. In present-day India this role of the museums has added significance; by evoking people's interest and supplying varied information, museums today function richly as the cultural centres of the community. The Union Government maintains and develops a few museums of national importance, besides extending financial assistance to State and other Museums for their improvement and reorganisation. Incentive for research in Museology by way of grants and creation of research fellowships and holding museum camps are the other forms of activities in the field.
2. Reorganisation and Development of Museums.-The scheme of Reorganisation and Development of Museums is a scheme continuing from the second Plan period. For the third Plan period, a programme limit of Rs. 55 lakh was fixed. Financial assistance under the scheme is given on the basis of priorities laid down by the Central Advisory Board of Museums for certain approved items like minor building extensions, equipment, publitions and museum libraries. The estimated expenditure on this scheme during the current financial year is Rs. 10,42,000, against which expenditure up to the end of December, 1963, has been Rs. 1,39,776.
2.2. With the object of making an intensive study of both the theoretical and practical aspects of the problems connected with Indian sculptures and their display, the first Museum Camp on Indian Sculpture was organised at the Government Museum, Madras from 3rd to 18th September, 1963. Attended by 29 participants from different states, the Camp was benefited by 8 outstanding scholars in the field who gave extension talks as resource personnel. Dr. Grace Morley, Director, National Museum, New Delhi attended the Camp as adviser.
3. National Museum, New Delhi.-A subordinate office of the Ministry, the National Museum, New Delhi continued its programme of various activities during the year, an account of which is given in the paragraphs that follow.
3.2. Exhibitions : An exhibition on "Freedom from Hunger in Indian Sculpture" was organised in the Museum premises in collaboration with the National Campaign Committee for Freedom from Hunger, to support the world-wide campaign launched by the F.A.O. A brochure on "Freedom from Hunger in Indian Sculptures" was also brought out on this occasion.
3.2.2. Another exhibition of importance organised by the Museum has been on the occasion of the XXVI International Congress of Orientalists held at New Delhi in January, 1964. Rare Indian manuscripts representing the collection of various museums and institutions were exhibited and a des-
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criptive catalogue of the rare manuscripts from Indian collections was released on the occasion.
3.2.3. The National Museum also participated in the following exhibitions :
(1) Indian Art Exhibition in Japan
(2) Singapore Festival Exhibition,
(3) Exhibition of Harappan Culture, organised by the National Children's Museum, New Delhi
(4) Exhibition of Mughal Art in India. at the Asia House Gallery, New York
The Museum gave on loan 115 objects for two exhibitions of Indian art in Japan, one in Tokyo from November to December, 1963, and another in Kyoto in January, 1964.
3.2.4. A documentary film in colour showing the process of removal and preservation of wall paintings brought to the National Museum from the walls of Ranghmahal Chamba was prepared. This was sent to Rome for showing at the Assembly of the International Centre for the Preservation of Cultural Property, where it received great appreciation.
3.3. Acquisition of Objects : Art objects worth approximately Rs. 10,22,690 were purchased by the National Museum during 1963. The notable acquisitions by the Museum comprise the famous collection of Khajanchi miniature paintings and manuscripts, 16 lots of silver jewellery from the Prime Minister's National Defence Fund collections, 2 silver turban decorations and 6 Rajasthani folk musical instruments. A wood-cut map of India was purchased from Norway. Besides these acquisitions, 2 folk art terracotta specimens were received as gift, and 11 copies of Ajanta-Ellora paintings were presented to the Museum by the Archaeological Survey of India.
3.3.2. For the acquisition of art objects, a combined Art Purchase ComMittee for the National Museum, New Delhi, the Indian Museum, Calcutta and the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad was constituted for the year 1963-64 under the chairmanship of Dr. Zakir Husain, Vice- President of India.
3.4. Meetings and Seminars : A weekly seminar on selected topics of Museology has been started in the Museum for the benefit of professional/ technical staff. Dr. Grace Morley, Director, National Museum, attended the meetings, at Honolulu (Hawaii), in connection with the project of Museum Training Centre under the programme of East-West Centre for Cultural Technical Interchanges. Shri C. Sivaramamurti, Assistant Director of the Museum attended the meetings of the International Council of Museum and the Annual meeting of the Museum Association of Great Britain during his visit to Europe in July-August, 1963. He also studied collections in museums abroad.
3.5. Visitors : 1,65,632 persons visited the National Museum during 1963.
4. Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad.-While work on the development of the Museum continued apace during the year, the Salar Jung Museum, an autonomous organisation, carried out its programme of activities satisfactorily, an account of which given in the paragraphs that follow.
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4.2. New Buildings : The construction of the new building for the Salar Jung Museum has been completed up to the plinth level. The cornerstone of the new building was laid by the Prime Minister on 23rd July, 1963.
4.3. Training : A short-tem training course in Museology was arranged under the auspices of the Salar Jung Museum Board for the benefit of the Museum employees and the local postgraduate students. A member of the Museum staff was deputed to the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay for training in Taxidermy.
4.4. Publications : The Museum authorities had taken up the publication of the following catalogues for reference and study by the scholars as. well as the public :
(i) Indian and Chinese Jade Collection in the Museum
(ii) Indian Kalamkari Work in the Museum
(iii) Collection of Arms in the Museum
(iv) Monogram of Deccani Paintings in the Museum
The Museum has published a set of 12 picture post cards--4 in colour and 8 in black and white for a proper publicity of the Museum exhibits.
4.5. Exhibitions : The following exhibitions were organised in the Museum premises :
(i) Ninth Annual Exhibition of Indian Sculptures by the Indian Sculptors' Association
(ii) Rajasthani Paintings Exhibition recently Acquired by the Museum
4.6. Visitors : During 1963 two lakh fifty-two thousand one hundred and five persons visited the Museum as against 2,18,757 during 1962.
5. The Indian War Memorial Museum, Red Fort, Delhi.-The Indian
War Memorial Museum, Red Fort, Delhi was set up in 1919 to house the arms, ammunition and equipment used in the First World War along with the contemporary regimental colours etc. It continued to exhibit its collections to a large number of visitors during the year that totalled more than six lakh.
6. Indian Museum. Calcutta.-The Indian Museum, Calcutta is managed by a Board of Trustees and consists of six sections, namely Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Botany, Geology and Zoology. The construction of the fire-proof building which was carried forward from the second Plan. is nearing completion while a fire alarm system is proposed to be installed next year. The Museum continued to offer its services to a large number of visitors.
7. Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta.-The Victoria Memorial Hall is one of the best and most important institutions of its kind in the country and is managed by a Board of Trustees. It accommodates exhibits mainly connected with the British period of Indian history. The exhibits continued to interest a great number of visitors. Its roads and pathways require repairs, for which provision has been made in the next year's budget for its maintenance.
8. National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.-The function of the. Gallery is to exhibit Indian pictorial sculptural art from the year 1857.
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8.2. Acquisitions: During 1963, two hundred and thirty-one art objects were acquired and accessioned, of which 43 art objects including those of G. N. Tagore, Mukul Dey and others were transferred from the National Museum, New Delhi. Six water-colour paintings by Hardie Martin were presented through the then Union Minister of Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs. Two oil paintings by Altamirano, Arturo Pacheco were presented to the Gallery from the artists' collection, and 16 lithographs of the prominent Bulgarian masters were also presented by the Bulgarian Minister, His Excellency Mr. Gancho Ganev. The remaining objects were purchased through the usual Art Purchase Committee meetings. Besides, these, the Gallery received 167 reproductions of the works of the great Western modern masters that constitute a remarakble addition to the newly started Western Section. In this connection mention may also be made of the proposed section of Indian Folk Art for which a few paintings have been purchased.
8.3. Exhibitions : An exhibition of contemporary Graphics of Czechoslovak Socialist Republic Artists was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Law, Shri Ashok Sen, on 27th March, 1963. His Excellency Dr. Ivan RohalIlkiv, Ambassador of Czechoslovakia, presided over the function.
8.4. Lectures : Special lectures on art subjects by experts in the field are organised by the Gallery. Chronological order of such lectures is as follows :
(1) 24th February, 1963, a talk on `Art and Society vis-a-vis Artists's Problem To-day' delivered by Richard Bartholomew and attended by an audience of about 60;
(2) 17th March, 1963, a talk on `The Influence of Modern Art on the Theatre' delivered by E. Alkazi and attended by an audience of about 40; and
(3) 24th March, 1963, a talk on `Paintings of Rabindranath Tagore' delivered by Kshitis Roy and attended by an audience of about 25.
8.5. Visits and Visitors : The Curator of the National Galley visited the U.S.A. with the Indian delegation to attend the International Congress of the Plastic Arts on 28th September, 1963. During the year 18,751 visitors including students visited the Gallery.
9. Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda.-The Union Government, in consultation with the State Government of Bihar, have set up a committee with a view to advising the Union Government and the State Government on how best to coordinate the activities of the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara and of the Huen Tsang Memorial Hall now being erected at Nalanda.
B.ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA 10. The normal activities of the Archaeological Survey of India relate to the conservation and upkeep of monuments, maintenance of gardens, upkeep and enrichment of the departmental museums, exploration, excavation and publications.
11. Exploration and Excavation.-Ten sites were programmed to be excavated during 1962-63, but intensive exploration and excavation of these sites was not commenced before December, 1962. In some cases, the exca-
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vation was not over by the end of 1962-63 and continued in the early months of 1963-64. Among the important sites which were excavated late in 1962-63 or early in 1963-64 are : Dharanikota in Andhra Pradesh, Balirajgarh and Rajgir in Bihar, Kaveripattinam and Gudiyam in Madras and Kalibangan in Rajasthan.
11.2 At Dharanikota, near the famous Buddhist site of Amaravati was discovered an embankment-cum-Wharf along a navigation channel connected with Krishna river. Pieces of imported Roman glass bangles were also discovered here. Brick-built thick ramparts with gates and bastions were exposed in part at Balirajgarh. Kaveripattinam, which is known as an ancient Chola port in Tamil literature, revealed traces of a brick-built wharf in the backwaters, where boats were brought and anchored to wooden posts. The rockshelter at Gudiyam revealed a sequence of Stone Age industries pointing to a gradual development from paleoliths of Series II to microliths. The continued excavation at Kalibangan yielded firmer evidence of pre-Harappan habitation. Excavations were also continued at Burzahom in Kashmir which has been yielding stone and bone implements of a neolithic community together with burials.
11.3 In 1963-64 excavations are scheduled to take place at fifteen sites and have already begun at some of them. In 1964-65 excavations would be carried over at some of the sites already under the spade. It is also proposed to excavate some of the kitchen-midden mounds in Andaman Islands. There is also a proposal to carry out an excavation in Afghanistan. Under a programme of the Indian Aid Mission, Nepal, the Archaeological Survey is scheduled to send some technical assistants early in 1964 to help with an excavation in the Nepalese Tarai.
12. Upkeep and Maintenance of Monuments.-In spite of drastic cuts in the budget grant, the Archaeological Survey attended to a large number of monuments during the year, repairing them structurally and also, where necessary, providing them with chemical treatment. Apart from well-known monuments at Bagh, Bhubaneswar, Konarak, Pandua, Ajanta, Ellora, Bijapur, Golkonda, Agra, and Delhi, hundreds of other less known monuments also received attention. Paintings at Lepakshi, Brihadiswara Temple at Thanjavur, Ajanta, Pundarikji-ki-Haveli, Jaipur, and Chini-ka-Rauza, Agra, were chemically cleaned. The greasy accretion and stains of rust were removed from the famous Iron Pillar at the Qutb while the caves at Ellora were cleaned of oil soot and animal excreta, revealing some hitherto hidden paintings. In 1964-65 it is proposed to send a small team to Afghanistan to consolidate the large rock-cut Buddha figures at Bamian.
13. Exhibits and Exhibition.-An exhibition of Indian art which is now being held in Japan has drawn considerably on material and technical assistance placed at its disposal by the Archaeological Survey. The work of transporting the exhibits from the museum in the valley of Nagarjunakonda to the hill-top before the valley gets submerged, is in full swing.
14. Survey Work.-There has been a steady progress in the survey of villages and monuments under the Five-Year Plan Project. During the year, 1625 villages were surveyed.
15. Training.-The competition for admission to the School of Archaeofogy run by the Archaeological Survey continues to be keen in view of the multi-sided training imparted by the School. The new batch of students was admitted in September, 1963.
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16. Publications.-At the instance of the Organising Committee of the XXVI International Congress of Orientalists held at New Delhi in January, 1964, the Archaeological Survey has published two books, namely, (i) Archaeological Remains, Monuments and Museums, and (ii) Delhi and Its Neighbourhood.
17. Meetings.-During the current year the Nineteenth Meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology took place at Lucknow, an important feature of which has been the possibility of sending an archaeological expedition to Afghanistan for excavation and preservation at Bamian. A number of important resolutions were passed and archaeological activities in universities and learned institutions are on the increase.
C. NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF INDIA 18. The main activities of the National Archives of India relate to accession, repair and preservation of records, research and technical service, and training and publication.
19. Accession.-Nearly 3,000 files were received from various government agencies during the year, notable being the files of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Collector of Central Excise, Bangalore, Collector of Customs, Bombay and Bureau of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics. Besides these, some 124 sheets of Indo-Pakistan international boarder strip maps of Rajasthan Section were received from the Ministry of External Affairs.
19.2 Among the significant additions to the Department's collection of private archives and historical documents, mention may be made of the entire collection of the late Gopal Krishna Gokhale acquired from the Servants of India Society, Poona, letters of Mahatma Gandhi, certain photostat positive copies of newspaper cuttings from the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya, New Delhi and a few letters of Dr. N. B. Khare. The papers of the late G. S. Kharparde, a close associate of the late B. G. Tilak were acquired on permanent loan.
19.3 Rare manuscripts like Field Army Orders, Shigerfnama, a travel book of the eighteenth century, and Sairal-Manzil, a topographical account of the principal buildings of Delhi, were also acquired.
19.4. Under the programme of acquisition of materials of Indian interests, the papers of Lord Dalhousie, Lord Salisbury, the Duke of Argyll, Viscount Morley, Sir John Lawrence and Lord Curzon were procured in microfilm from various record offices in the U.K.
20. Compilation of Reference Media.-Abstract lists of the records of the Departments of Commerce and Industry, Railways, Education, Health and Lands and Finance were compiled. The press- listing of the Secret Department records (1781-85) and hand-listing of the Persian Correspondence was continued. Further progress was made in indexing Foreign and Political Department records (1781-83) and Volume XI of the Calendar of Persian Correspondence (1794-95).
21. Research and Reference.-The number of research scholars including those from the U.K., the U.S.A., Australia and Germany, who availed themselves of the facilities for consulting records increased this year to 275 as against 170 last year.
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