INSPECTION: MLA N. Yogish Bhat (second from right) at the Shrimanthi Bai Museum at Bejai in Mangalore on Friday.

MANGALORE: City's only museum, which is in a shambles, will be given a facelift, according to N. Yogish Bhat, MLA.

Mr. Bhat who visited the museum following reports about the bad state of the museum, told presspersons on Friday that steps would be taken to prevent burglary at the museum.He said the museum needed immediate maintenance work and a full-time curator would be appointed. He would recommend to the Government to direct the Public Works Department to take up restoration work immediately.

He said the stately museum building has a legacy of its own as it housed one of the top officials of the British Raj, V.R. Mirajkar, a Mangalorean, and his mother, Srimanthi Bai. Colonel Mirajkar was a doctor with the Medical Corps of the British armed forces in India. He lived in this house till the death of Sreemanthi Bai. Later, he donated the house with 1.2 acres of land to the Government and built a house nearby where he lived till his death in 1971. The house had three floors and its teakwood caskets had artefacts collected by Col. Mirajkar for 40 years till 1969.

Mr. Bhat said the Archaeological Survey of India had not given enough attention to this building. The museum was crumbling with big cracks on its walls, leaking roof and wooden windows and doors becoming weak because of dampness. The museum had not seen a coat of fresh paint for the past 12 years. Mr. Bhat said the museum had no drinking water facility and toilets for visitors. The Mangalore City Corporation would be asked to provide a water connection to the museum. Steps would be taken to restore the garden with proper landscaping and fountains.

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