New Delhi: From showcasing India’s rise as a global power since Independence in 1947, to the country’s nuclear test in Pokhran in May 1974 and May 1998, the 1965 war with Pakistan and more — the soon-to-be inaugurated Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya or the Museum of Prime Ministers is set to act as a custodian of the India’s achievements and milestones in the past 75 years.
Part of the national capital’s Teen Murti complex, the museum is all set to be inaugurated on 14 April — the birth anniversary of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of India’s Constitution. There is a separate section in the museum on Ambedkar and the making of the Constitution.
“Each of the PMs of India has made a certain amount of contribution to India’s growth and development. The museum depicts the tenure of each PM, whatever circumstances that were there at that point of time, and how the PM who was in office then dealt with it, and the contribution of each PM,” explained a government functionary.
Each of the country’s 14 prime ministers since 1947 — irrespective of party, ideology or duration in office — and the contribution made by them to India’s growth, finds representation here. Even Gulzari Lal Nanda — who twice became the country’s caretaker PM, filling in when Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri died — is part of this Museum of Prime Ministers.
Not your typical ‘glass box display museum’
The Rs 271 crore museum, spread over 10,491 square metres, will not be the usual glass-box display museum, government sources told ThePrint.
This is the first museum in the country that will extensively use cutting edge technology-based interfaces to make the entire experience an “immersive” one.
This will include use of holograms, virtual reality, augmented reality, multi-touch, multimedia, LEDs and projectors, interactive kiosks, computerised kinetic sculptures, smartphone applications and interactive screens, to depict important events during the tenure of each PM, added the sources.
For example, both the Pokhran-I nuclear test in 1974, undertaken during the tenure of PM Indira Gandhi and the Pokhran-II tests in 1998, during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure, will be shown through multimedia presentations.
“An audio visual commentary running in the background will tell the visitors that the two events are connected and form the backdrop of India’s nuclear strategy,” explained the government functionary quoted above.
Similarly, the highlight of the representation of Shastri’s tenure, will be the depiction of the India-Pakistan war of 1965.
The museum will also tell the story of the legacy that India inherited — be it on the economic front or foreign policy. “The idea of this is to highlight the point from where we began and where we are now,” the government functionary added.
In a tweet on the museum Saturday, Kanchan Gupta, senior adviser, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, wrote, “The Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya will showcase archival material, personal items, memorabilia, speeches of PMs and anecdotal representation of ideologies and different aspects of the lives of Prime Ministers of #India — all reflected in a thematic format.”
The Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya will showcase archival material, personal items, memorabilia, speeches of PMs and anecdotal representation of ideologies and different aspects of the lives of Prime Ministers of #India — all reflected in a thematic format.
n7 pic.twitter.com/4dtq0bTg2v
— Kanchan Gupta 🇮🇳 (@KanchanGupta) April 9, 2022
He added that the museum will include the erstwhile Nehru Museum building, which now has a completely updated, technologically advanced display on the life and contribution of Jawaharlal Nehru.
The Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya blends the old and the new. It includes the erstwhile Nehru Museum building which now has a completely updated, technologically advanced display on the life and contribution of Jawaharlal Nehru.
n3 pic.twitter.com/ksHMO6VvDZ
— Kanchan Gupta 🇮🇳 (@KanchanGupta) April 9, 2022
“Institutional memory is non-existent in India and popular memory is short lived. We have a poor sense of history. It is to fill in this gap that this museum has been set up,” the government functionary quoted earlier added.
Ambedkar also finds a place in the Museum of PMs
The logo of the Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya represents the hands of the people of India holding the Ashoka chakra — symbolising the nation and democracy, sources added.
It will also showcase the men and women behind the making of the Constituent Assembly.
“Neither the PM nor the government could have functioned without the Constitution of India. The Constitution remains the instrument of governance,” said the government functionary, explaining Ambedkar’s inclusion in the Museum of PMs.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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