MUSEUMS
The Museums are repositories of cultural, historical, technical, industrial
or other kinds of materials for preservation against decay and for transmis-
sion to posterity as records for history. They also serve as important
audiovisual means of education. The development of museums in their
ramifications is considered important as on the one hand they promote
national integration and on the other, international understanding.
The Constitution of India makes the States primarily responsible for
setting up and maintenance of museums. The Central Government has
however set up a number of important museums and provides financial
assistance for the development of private museums, university museums,
etc. Great emphasis is laid on the documentation of the existing collection
in the Government and private museums, preservation of the collections
by using latest scientific aids and publication of catalogues of collection.
Keeping in view the financial resources available, it would be the endeav-
our of the Department of Culture to encourage construction of museum
buildings to house the antiquities available in the various regions.
In the field of Indian art and archaeology, the Central Government has
established the National Museum, New Delhi, Indian Museum, Calcutta
and Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad. In the contemporary history and
art, Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta, National Gallery of Modern Art,
New Delhi and the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library are the three
museums financed by the Government of India. The National Council of
Science Museums looks after Science Museums/Centres. A National Re-
search Laboratory has also been set up. The work done by the museums
during the year is given below :-
I. MUSEUMS OF INDIAN ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY
National Museum, New Delhi The National Museum is a subordinate office of the Department of
Culture. The main activities of the Museum are in the field of acquisition,
exhibition, conservation, publication and education.
The Museum further augmented its collection during the year by
Acquisition acquiring select art objects. A total amount of Rs. 9.32 lakhs was spent
on the purchase of antiquities during the year. Some of the outstanding
acquisitions are : Chola Ganesa datable to the 10th century A.D.; a
Chalukya bronze of Vishnu with Sri Devi and Bhu Devi of the 11th-12th
century A.D., Avalokitasvara of Eastern India datable to the 9th century
A.D., and copper plate grants of Orissa of 10th-11th centuries A.D. In
addition, terracotta heads of Maurya and Sunga periods (3rd-2nd century
B.C.); an inscribed Mughal 'Degchi' of the 17th Century A.D.; illustrated
manuscripts, 'Madhumalti' of Bundi, 18th century A.D. and 'Ragamala'
series of paintings of Jodhpur dated 1623 A.D. were purchased. Fine
shawls and textiles of Kashmir were also acquired.
During the year the following exhibitions were compiled and organised
Exhibitions both within the Museum and also in various countries :
(i) Exhibition of Masterpieces of South Indian Bronzes' to coin-
cide with the Non-Aligned Summit Conference in March,
1983.
(ii) A Photo exhibition of 'The Mission of Peace, Creativity and
Beauty' organised under the joint auspices of the National
Museum and Bulgarian Culture and Information Centre in
October, 1983.
(iii) Exhibition of 'Indian Coinage' to coincide with Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting in November, 1983.
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(iv) Work is in progress for the following exhibitions
(a) 'Decorative Arts of India', 16th-18th century A.D. to be
organised in Moscow and Leningrad, USSR in February,
1984;
(b) 'Ancient Sculptures of India' to be organised at Tokyo
and Kyoto in Japan under the aegis of Nihon Kezei
Shimbun in March, 1984
(c) The exhibition 'Light of Asia' to be organised at Los
Angles, U.S.A. in March, 1984;
(d) An exhibition entitled 'Art of Sakya Muni' to be organis-
ed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Washington,
(v) Preliminary work in regard to the following exhibitions has
been taken in hand
- An exhibition 'Where the Peacock Dances' to be organis-
ed at National Gallery, Washington, U.S.A. in 1985;
U.S.A. in 1985;
- An exhibition of "Terracottas' to be organised in Brooklyn
Museum, U.S.A. in 1985;
- An exhibition 'Masterpieces of Indian Art' to be organis-
ed at National Gallery, Washington, U.S.A. in 1985;
- An exhibition of 'Kushan and Gandhara Sculptures' to be
organised at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland,
in 1985;
- Preliminary work in regard to the Festival of India to be
organised' at the Grand Palais, Paris, has also been taken
in hand;
- All art objects received back from the Festival of India
exhibitions in the, United Kingdom, have been properly
packed and returned to the respective lending Museums
and private collections.
Conservation In addition to the care of the objects of the National Museum, the Con-
servation Laboratory of the Museum also examined and treated art objects
from the Museums on collection as well as from other Museums which were
sent for exhibitions in other countries. Condition report in respect of each
item for all the exhibitions was prepared and chemical treatment was under-
taken wherever required before sending the objects and after receiving
them back from abroad. It also assisted other Museums/Institutions in the
matter of treatment of objects, requiring urgent attention. The Chemist of
the; Museum visited U.S.A. for three months under the, INDO-U.S.
Cultural Exchange Programme.
Publications Besides many publications which, are in the press, the Museum brought
out catalogues, illustrated folders and posters of special exhibitions of Master-
pieces of South Indian Bronzes and of Indian Coinage. A number of cata-
logues of the Museum collections together with the National Museum Bul-
letin, Combined Issue 4,5,6, were under preparation.
Other Activities The Museum conducted the 14th Short Term in-service course in Museo-
logy. A three-month intensive in-service training programme on conserva-
tion of stone sculptures was also held.
Eight hundred and twenty-six books and 252 art slides were added to
the National Museum Library bringing the total collections to 41910.
Assistance was rendered to the Films Division in the preparation of a
film entitled 'Islamic Heritage of India' and to the Doordarshan Centre for
making a T.V. film on Lord Buddha.
Assistance was also rendered in the organisation of a Sports and Games
Museum in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.
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To further strengthen the security arrangements, several electronic
devices were installed in the special exhibition gallery along with the per-
manent stationing of Armed Police Guards in the National Museum.
Indian Museum, Calcutta The report of activities undertaken by the Indian Museum during the
year is summarised hereunder :-
On the occasion of the 1000th birth anniversary of Atise Dipankar
Temporary Exhibitions Srijnan, an Indian' reformer of Buddhism in Tibet, an exhibition on 'Tibetan
Thankas in the Indian Museum' was organised. About twenty-five temple
banners representing Buddha and Buddhist Gods and Goddesses of Lamaistic
pantheon as well as Buddhist dharmagurus were displayed. These thankas
ranged in date between 16th to 20th century and were acquired by the
Museum during 1912-74. The exhibition also highlighted the life and
works of Atise through thankas and bronze images. His Holiness Dalai
Lama inaugurated the exhibition.
Another exhibition on Oil Paintings from Calcutta and its neighbourhood
was organised in September, 1983. These paintings done in oil in different
ateliers like Chinsurah, Chandernagore and Calcutta depicting mythological
themes, landscape and portraits by local artists of the soil, as also by Chinese
and Italian artists commissioned in Calcutta, reflected a traditional artistic
activities in these regions. Twenty-five oil paintings by the artists of Chin-
surah and Chandernagore school and by Bamapada Bandyopadhyay,
Debiprasad Roy Choudhury, Jamini Roy, Ramandranath Chakravarti and
others were on view. Shri B. D. Pande, Governor of West Bengal inaugurat-
ed the exhibition.
Exhibits of the Month Following exhibits were displayed at the Entrance Hall in connection with
the exhibition of the month
(i) Wooden effigies 'Tawala Gaba of the Kondh tribes of Orissa'-
Anthropology Section.
(ii) Shaikh Saadi : His life and works as gleened through objects
of art on the occasion of 800 years of his birth centenary-Art
& Archaeology Section.
(iii) Double Coconut (Cocos mucifera) and Horned Coconut (Lodoi-
cis maldivika)-Botany Section.
(iv) Gilt Copper umbrella from Bodhgaya gifted by Burmese Guru
in 1035 A.D.-Archaeology Section.
(v) Coins of Babar and Prints from Babarnama (on the occasion
of his 500th Birth Anniversary)-Archaeology Section.
(vi) Japanese musical instruments gifted by Sourindra Mohan Tagore
-Anthropology Section.
Mobile Exhibition The Museo-Bus on Indian History and Archaeology travelled nine dis-
tricts of West Bengal and Orissa and covered 1419 kilometres and was
visited by 2,72,412 people. In some places educational films were, also
shown along with the exhibition.
Travelling Exhibition A travelling exhibition on 'Museum Architecture' was sent to Sunderban
Anchalik Sangrahashala at Baruipur and to Ramakrishna Mission Vidya-
peeth at Narendrapur. Another exhibition on 'Inscriptions of Bengal' was
sent to, Dum Dum Kishore Bharati.
The museum has acquired seven sets of copper-plate inscriptions datable
Acquisition between 7th and 18th centuries A. D. Noteworthy among these are the
inscriptions from Egre, Midnapore, issued during Sesanka's rule, and a few
copper-plate inscriptions of the Ganga dynasty and Silabhanjadeva of Kalinga,
Two manuscripts in handmade paper, one containing three Sargas, of
the Mahabharata and another of the Harivansa written in old Bengali script
were acquired.
Of the metal sculptures acquired by the Museum, two Buddhist images
belonging to Pala school-one mahisamerdhni and one female deity standing
on a ram-deserve to be mentioned.
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Three terracotta decorative tiles, 49 clay dolls prepared by folk artisans
of Jayanagar, 11 ivory and bone carvings which include mayurpankhi,
plaque carved with a figure of Sultan with peacock, Krishna Lila Scene, etc.
and 2 wooden windows with carvings, wooden palanka legs, and figures of
Garuda and Radha-Krishna were also acquired.
About ninety coins made of gold, silver and copper were acquired of
which a gold coin of Kumaragupta II and four coins commemorating
IXth Asian Games are noteworthy.
Thirteen pieces of textiles such as Kashmiri shawl, Banarasi and Balu-
chari saris, nakshi kantha and a tapestry work were acquired. Besides, a
Kalighat pata, an oil painting by Satish Sinha and three, painted book covers
were added to the collection of the Art Section.
Of ethnological specimens some tribal artifacts of the Kondh of Phul-
bani district of Orissa and of Jungle Rabhas, Jalpaiguri district, North
Bengal were acquired.
The museum also received as gifts eightfold articles used by the
Burmese Buddhists, a standing figure of Radha in brass and a standing
image of Surya in stone datable to the 12th century.
Publications The following publications were released by the Museum
(i) Catalogue of Damascened & Bidri Arts.
(ii) Catalogue of Textiles in Cutch, Kathiawad.
(iii) Indian Museum Bulletin Vol. XVI.
(iv) Kishan Silver Coinage (Monograph No. 13).
(v) General Guide Book (English).
(vi) General Guide Book (Hindi).
Other Educational Activities Under the mass communication programmes of the Museum, two dance
demonstration programmes on Ramayana in Cho Style and Sakuntala in
Cho Style were performed by Padmasri Gambhir Singh Mura and Padmasri
Nepal Mehato and their parties from Purulia. Another Audio-visual pro-
gramme on Manasamangal was also performed based on folk music and
exhibition of folk art objects connected with the snake cult.
Under popular lecture series and gallery lectures, to correlate school
and college curriculum with museum education the following talks, either
illustrated with slides or followed by film shows, were organised :
1. Ancient Sybolism in Modern Indian and Western Art by
Mr. Richard Lanney, British author and art-historian.
2. Geological Significance of Calcutta by Mr. Sankarshan Roy,
Director, Geological Survey of India.
3. Appreciation of Arts Looking versus Seeing by Dr. Mulk Raj
Anand.
4. Postcard Paintings by Nandalal Bose by Mr. Purnandu Pattres.
5. Sei Samayar Kalkata by Mr. Sunil Gangopadhyay.
6. In the Museum of Japan and Korea by Mr. Shyamalkanti Chakra-
varti.
7. On Indus Valley Civilisation by Mr. Saikat Banerji.
8. Early man in India and the Indus by Mr. S. Chakravarti.
9. Scroll paintings from Tibet and Bengal by Smt. Sipra Chakravarti.
Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad The activities undertaken during the period under report under various
heads are as follows :
The Ivory Gallery and Marble Gallery have been taken up for reorga-
Reorganisation of Galleries nisation on modern scientific lines and the work is in progress. A sample
showcase for the Ivory Gallery has been approved and order for the manu-
facture of 17 new showcases has been placed.