Jinxed museum to be thrown open
Wednesday, 21.01.2009, 10:00am (GMT+5.5)
Three decades after its construction, the museum on the premises of Department of Archaeology at Gunfoundry will be inaugurated on Wednesday for exhibiting its collection of antique objects of pre-historic period.
The Rs.40 lakh museum was constructed exclusively way back in 1988 for housing hundreds of antiques and remnants of bygone era including a stone ‘Thoranam’ (arch) sculpture, believed to be of Vizianagaram kings period that were excavated from the region before its submersion under the Srisailam Hydel Project.
But the excavated objects were never really organised and arranged in a systematic manner as the museum was apparently considered a jinx and the locked museum and objects gathered layers of dust and dirt.
Dr. P.Chenna Reddy who took over as the Director of Department of Archaeology and Museums last year, began efforts to open the museum for public view. “Though the inauguration was scheduled for last August 15, it was delayed as the neglected museum and objects needed more time than we thought to bring back to shape,” he told media persons here on Tuesday.
The Director said that under the Srisailam Hydel Project across River Krishna, about 110 villages were submerged covering an extent of 1.62 lakh acres in Kurnool and Mahbubnagar districts.
Before submersion, large scale salvage operations were undertaken in those areas and various invaluable and priceless antique pieces, tools and pottery of hoary past were deposited in the museum then named as Srisailam Pavilion.
The museum now has been renamed as Andhra Pradesh Archaeological Museum as it also houses objects obtained in all the excavations of the State.
Dr. Chenna Reddy said that Rs.16 lakh were spent on renovation of the museum which took about six months. It would be opened for public from 10.30 a.m. to 5 p.m except on Fridays.
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