From Special Correspondent

Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Feb 28: How do we celebrate our country’s great legacy and heritage and treasure its dynamic present? How do we pay tributes to the living document that grants every one of us equality and rights?

These questions have inspired Social Welfare Department to establish two very unique museums in the city. They are the Interactive Constitution Museum and the Maharishi Valmiki and Ramayana Museum.

Unique, one of a kind ventures, these two museums will be set up in Nagadasanahalli near Yelahanka in Bengaluru, at a cost of Rs 120 crore and Rs 60 crore respectively. The state government hopes to encourage dialogue between constitution guarantees and rights that govern the Indian republic, and the spirituality and philosophy that has created one of the richest cultures in the world.

Dr G Parameshwara, deputy chief minister announced the decision to set up the two museums and said: “It is our duty, as citizens and as participants in the nation's progress, to take a full and active part in how the country is governed. It is our duty to understand and honour the Constitution of India and learn the struggles that went into making it. This museum will give every citizen a unique insight into it. At the same time, the Maharishi Valmiki museum will help us appreciate the literary and spiritual heritage of our land.”

The project is being spearheaded by Priyank Kharge, minister for Social Welfare.

The minister said, “The two museums will be the most befitting monuments to the Father of Indian Constitution Dr B R Ambedkar and Maharshi Valmiki, who immortalised the epic Ramayana and inspired people with great values.”

Constitution Museum

An interactive, cutting edge museum and interpretation centre, the Constitution Museum will exhibit the genesis of our living document and introduce the objective, structure, judiciary and the challenges faced by Dr BR Ambedkar during the drafting of the Constitution.

The Social Welfare Minister said the museum will be of international standards and will be constructed on eight-acre land in Nagadasanahalli near Yelahanka. The resistance shown during the time of fight for freedom, the constituent assembly debates, and other challenges will be chronicled here.

He stressed on the need to honour the Constitution of India and the need to celebrate the author Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Kharge said, “The constitution of India, for the first time in the world, envisioned a truly equal, just society and guaranteed every citizen of India, irrespective of their caste, class, religious beliefs, language, and economic status equality in law. The constitution celebrated the diversity and difference of Indian society and erased all hierarchies. It is the basis of our modern nation. In the current scenario, this cannot be stressed enough. Hence the museum.”

The minister said the Constitution Museum will also throw light on the various stages and struggles that formed part of the country’s freedom struggle and the framing of the Constitution.

It will also have a well-equipped and most modern library with compilation of the debates in the Constituent Assembly and their Kannada translations along with a vast collection of books and recordings of the speeches of Dr Ambedkar.

The museum will provide an invigorating environment and have facilities to accommodate academicians and scholars from across the country and abroad to study the Indian Constitution.

Maharishi Valmiki & Ramayana Museum

The departments will also construct a state-of-the-art museum dedicated to sage-poet Valmiki, and the greatest epic of India - Ramayana. This will exhibit the life of one of the greatest sages AdiKavi Maharshi Valmiki and his major epic Ramayana.

Alongside this, a Tribal Museum will also come up at Nagadasanahalli that will highlight the life, traditions, art and culture of the various tribes in Karnataka.

Additionally, information on freedom fighters from Halagali Beda community including Jadaga, Veera Sindhura Lakshmana, as well as their achievements will be displayed at the museum.

The project intends to preserve, protect and present the tribal communities for the generations to come, the minister said.