Source:-hindustantimes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patna\u2019s century old museum is being redeveloped at a cost of Rs 158 crore to include a garden with around 700 sculptures, a new gallery showcasing the evolution of civilisation on the banks of the Ganga river, development of Bihar, and the emergence and rise of Patliputra on the shores of the Ganga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently some antique artefacts were shifted from Patna Museum to the newly developed Bihar Museum at Bailey Road in the city. Following this, it was decided to refurbish the old museum with new features and attractions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patna Museum redevelopment plan has been set in motion and is expected to be ready in a couple of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Patna Museum belongs to the British age and is the oldest museum in Bihar and Odisha. After Bihar\u2019s separation from Bengal in 1912, some academicians and archaeologists planned a museum to conserve the antiquities discovered in and around the city at that time and in 1915.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A makeshift museum was set up at the then Patna commissioner\u2019s bungalow in the city which is now the AN Sinha research institute. Later, this collection was shifted to the Patna high court building, and in 1917 the Patna Museum was planned at its present site at Budh Marg on the Patna- Gaya road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Designed in Mughal- Rajput architecture, the Patna Museum once had over 50,000 antiquities in its collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut the majority of its collections have remained at its storage points. It\u2019s to display all those sculptures and bring them before the art lovers that we have planned a sculpture garden on the museum premises,\u201d Deepak Anand, Bihar Museum director, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The old building of the museum will remain untouched, unaltered as it\u2019s a heritage structure, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re adding new features on the open spaces available on its northern and southern sides. Some new galleries are being developed there which will tell the tales of development of Bihar and especially of Patliputra on the shores of Ganga River,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arvind Mahajan, an official from the directorate of museums, culture department, said it\u2019s a Rs 158 crore project and while some well known firms like Drona, Sikka and Batul Raj are working over the concept plan, the development work is being executed by the building construction department.<\/p>\n