The most ambitious redevelopment of the capital city, underway over last few years, around the erstwhile Rajpath, now renamed the Kartavya Path, the Central Vista area, has been seeing gradual completion of phases giving birth to new offices that witness re-allocation of ministries, unified working environment and therefore increased efficiency.
The most recent shifting in progress has been the North and South Block, which we gather are mostly vacated, the imposing landmark buildings on atop the Raisina Hill, are both set for the big makeover.
As has been widely reported, the government has an ambitious project to create one of the biggest museums across the globe. For starters, we learn for example, the ground floor will house a 1,500 sq m gallery, called “Time and Timelessness”, exhibiting 100 landmark artefacts held by museums and collections across the country, together thematically showcasing “Bharat’s civilizational relationship with time”, spanning “centuries of cultural, philosophical, and scientific evolution”. This is in keeping with the government’s quest to bring Indian traditions and antiquity in the foreground, an appropriate thrust if we are to find our roots again.
These artefacts, as reported, would be extensively covering a few thousands of years, covering all regions – starting with an Indus Valley terracotta hourglass created in Kalibangan between 2500-1700 BC; Chola bronzes created in the 10th and 11th centuries in Tamil Nadu; an astrolabe created in Lahore in 1567; and Gupta-period sculptures created in the 5th century. Virtually, going across the 5,000 years of Indian civilization, under-scoring the perennial nature of this heritage. These are learnt to be featured into thematic zones; also include people who made history, events that shaped our past, thought processes and the brilliant achievements that Bharat contributed to the global evolution.
Do recall, the government in another related landmark decision, has already signed a collaboration, with the French National Museum and France Museums Department for guidance and their expertise. Given that the world’s best-known museum is the Louvre in Paris, it is here that ambitions score high, the forthcoming museum will be nothing less than the best globally. Not surprising, the planners have envisaged a traffic flow of 10 million annually.
This large museum complex is integral to the Central Vista project, with the launch gallery of this new complex, expected to be complete in a year’s time.
