Kashmir’s lone museum opens for public
Srinagar, June 11: Kashmir’s lone Shri Pratap Singh Museum is a treasure trove for art lovers, history enthusiasts and curious minds as it houses rare artefacts and items of historical significance, showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the state.
Situated on the banks of river Jhelum in Lal Mandi area of the summer capital here, the museum was established in 1898 AD by then Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Pratap Singh, in his summer guest house, largely based on collections transferred from the state “Toshkhana (palace treasury)”.
A century later, the museum got a new building — adjacent to the old one. Though it has not been completed yet, the museum was thrown open for public recently owing to widespread demands from different quarters.
The foundation stone of the new building was laid in 2008 by then chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the construction project was handed over to the Police Housing Corporation (PHC), which was scheduled to complete it in two years’ time.
Approximately 80,000 artefacts and objects ranging from archaeological items, sculptures, numismatics items, decorative art, weapons, paintings, anthropological and natural history items and textiles are housed in the museum.
The three-storey building has 10 major galleries — archaeology, numismatic, decorative art, jewellery, culture and society, arms and armoury, textile, painting, manuscript and natural history.
It provides a multi-layered history of the cultural heritage of the state.
The ground floor exhibits the antiquity of a man in Kashmir followed by the developments that gave rise to the settlements around 5,000 years ago.
“The work of art in terracotta, as old as second century BC, stone and bronze showcases the archaeological development and the vastness of the cultural heritage of the state,” director, archives, archaeology and museums, Jammu and Kashmir, Mohammad Shafi Zahid said.
Mr Zahid said the new museum complex is designed in a way that a visitor starts his journey of Kashmir’s history corresponding to the start of 5,000 years. The visitor then follows the Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and other eras.