PATNA: The proposed multi-crore new museumof international standards to come up at Patna along its Bailey Road has, of late, emerged as the latest pet project of CM Nitish Kumar, who said on Friday on the premises of the state assembly in his chamber that it, when fully completed, would rank among the best in the country.
With regard to its external and internal charms, the CM said, "It will have attraction for people of all tastes and in all age groups, from students to scholars. It will have unique architectural design, and indeed, it would be an 'anootha (unique)' monument in the city."
While any museum, by global conceptual frame, freezes historical time that takes the viewer to different historical periods and their corresponding realms, it also depicts the flow of civilizational and cultural progress of a society and its people in historical time from remote antiquity to the contemporary period through the imaginative display and presentation of art forms (sculpture and paintings) and other objects (like tools of production, garments worn by people in periodic time, and even weapons used, among others). It, in the process, leads to the emergence of national and sub-national consciousness/identities among the people concerned, not to say of progressive historical consciousness.
In keeping with the same, Nitish added, "The proposed museum at Patna would be of world level. The interiors of various blocks would have objects of history displayed in historical time, in terms of their periods. That is, each block would have objects of a particular historical period."
Patna, at present, has a museum called Patna Museum, whose architecture is amalgamation of Hindu, Islamic and colonial styles. The proposed new museum, in contrast, would have contemporary styles of architecture (by corollary, an amalgamation of modernist and postmodern styles). For, five global firms, which have been shortlisted, have already presented their designs and master-plan regarding the proposed museum before the CM. They are from the US, the UK, Australia, Japan and Norway. In all, as many as 24 firms have presented their proposals.
"The design has not yet been finalized. No final decision has yet been taken on it," Nitish said, adding that it would be done soon, so that the proposed museum is completed by 2015. The second five-year term (2010-15) in office that people of the state have given to the CM ends in November 2015.
The Rs 350 crore worth of the proposed museum would be spread over 16.59 acres of land between L N Mishra Institute of Economic Development and Social Change and Hartali Mor along the southern flank of the Bailey Road. Five existing buildings would be demolished, but utmost care would be taken so that the green cover provided by age-old trees remains intact. "These trees would be felled only if absolutely necessary," he said.
By that token, by 2015, the landscape of Patna would have a new addition to its existing around a dozen monumental buildings, including those on the Patna University campus, which have mostly colonial styles for design and architecture. "The new museum will be unique. It will be an attraction for all," the CM said.
