The Hindu : New Delhi News : A story-telling museum

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 12, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

A story-telling museum

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI: On the eve of Independence Day, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will inaugurate the country's first "story-telling museum'' depicting "Democratic Heritage in India''.

To be opened to the public by September 1, the Parliament Museum located in the Parliament Building has been designed as a hi-tech story-telling complex where the story of the "Democratic Heritage in India" will be told with the help of walk-through period settings backed by sound-light-video synchronisation, large screen interactive computer multi-media and multi-screen panoramic projections, virtual reality and animatronics.

In addition, the Museum will also have a resource centre with fully computerised textual and visual information bank.

Built at a cost of Rs. 4.5 crores, the idea of the hi-tech museum was mooted by the Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, and took nearly a year to put together. It has been built by Kolkata Museum under the aegis of the former president of the International Council of Museums, Paris, and former Director-General of the National Council of Science Museums, Dr. Saroj Ghose.

"This museum is different in the sense that it will not be a museum of objects but of events. It will not be a `touch-me-not' exhibition but an educative, interesting and interactive experience. Under the project, all visitors will have access to every single page of the Indian Constitution, will be able to watch a short film on the election system of the country and get a `virtual' first hand experience of being in the chambers of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha and take part in the proceedings of the two Houses,'' said Dr. Ghose at a preview of the museum here on Friday.

"We have used fibreglass to make the figures that are durable and will last for over 25 years. The figures were manufactured in Kolkata and we began installation in May this year,'' added Dr. Ghose.

Another major attraction of the museum is expected to be a recreated Central Hall of Parliament where a computer-controlled animation will show Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru delivering in his original voice the historic `Tryst with Density' speech (about five minutes duration) that he read out on the midnight of August 14-15, 1947.

Visitors can also catch exhibits including "Ashoka's peace mission", "Akbar's ibadatkhana", "National Freedom Movement" and "Mahatma Gandhi on his historic Dandi March".

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