The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : An exciting date with history in State capital

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 15, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

An exciting date with history in State capital

Staff Reporter

INSIGNIA OF BYGONE ERA: The new amphitheatre with antiquities that is being set up on the premises of the Andhra Pradesh State Archaeological Museum in Hyderabad. Photo: Mohd Yousuf

HYDERABAD: Spending a day with history in Hyderabad is all set to become a different experience.

An experience that entails time spent in rooms with the legendary Tipu Sultan's sofas, the Nizam's gargantuan bed and even a 4,500-year-old Egyptian Mummy!

Capping the `historic' experience is the invitation to meditate in the company of the holiest of Buddhist relics in the world.

All this is part of the facelift being given to the State Archaeological Museum in Public Gardens, where the regalia of bygone eras are being polished up and more alluring elements of history added to the exhibits.

Egyptian charm

While the Mummy will have a separate gallery to showcase the intrigue and charm of the Egyptian civilisation, the country's first exclusive Jain Sculptural Gallery is coming up alongside an amphitheatre studded with antiquities, another first in the country.

The antiquities arranged in the amphitheatre include relics unearthed from the Srisailam-submerged areas.

The Jain gallery, a collaborative effort with the Jain Seva Sangh, will house artefacts from various periods of Jain history.

The gallery will have Jaina Thirthankaras, rare sculptures of goddesses Saraswati and Ambika and the roof will have the `ashtamangalas' of the Jain faith. An auditorium, to be named after Lord Mahavira, is being completed.

A `period room' is being readied to take visitors back to the living rooms of the Nawabi era.

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