Acharya Bhavan, the residence of J C Bose, that built in 1902 has been turned to museum [26].
TOI had earlier reported that Acharya Bhavan was going to be converted into a national "Science heritage museum" at the behest of Union ministry of culture. The mammoth task of renovating the 110-year-old building, where J C Bose and Lady Abala Bose played host to Tagore, Romain Rolland, GB Shaw, Vivekananda, Sister Nivedita, P C Ray, Prasanta Mahalanobis, Meghnad Saha and the like, is about to begin. But the authorities decided to allow the public to visit the museum thrice a week, for now.
And visitors will be able to view the memorabilia of Bose, his original instruments, his laboratory and the dark room where he had made some epoch-making inventions, his priceless collections of art (including frescos by Nandalal Bose and Abanindranath Tagore).
Acharya Bhavan board of trustees member Parul Chakrabarti said, "We were getting requests from different corners of the public domain and then we decided to make the museum accessible to visitors. Since the colossal job of renovating the interiors will also be done soon, the visiting days have been restricted to three for the moment. Once the museum is ready and fully renovated, it will function like a full-fledged museum."
Work on the facade will begin once the interiors are done, said Chakrabarti. The union ministry of culture has sanctioned Rs 7 crore for the project and the Sir J C Bose Trust has appointed INTACH to prepare the detailed project report (DPR). The authorities hope to complete the project in a year.
The board of trustees has undertaken the project to develop Acharya Bhavan into a 'Science heritage museum' of international importance (as envisioned by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who also holds the culture portfolio). The residence of J C Bose has most of the possessions of the scientist intact. These give away Bose's multifarious taste. The trust board, which was formed as early as 1931 for proper management of Acharya Bhavan, has been preserving Bose's possessions for many decades. Even the room where Bose held long adda sessions with Rabindranath Tagore is in its original setting.
But due to lack of funds (even though the income generated by the trust has been used for the maintenance of Acharya Bhavan), the building has developed cracks from outside and many of the artifacts and priceless items kept there have started showing signs of decay. For instance, the priceless paintings by Nandalal Bose need to be preserved professionally. And the several items of historical importance must be displayed and interpreted historically.
Acharya Bhavan opens its doors to visitors
KOLKATA: The city can now see for itself what a treasure trove the bright red heritage building on 93 APC Road is. The doors of Acharya Bhavan, the residence of Jagadish Chandra Bose, built in 1902 and a hub of the Bengal renaissance, was thrown open to the public on Friday.TOI had earlier reported that Acharya Bhavan was going to be converted into a national "Science heritage museum" at the behest of Union ministry of culture. The mammoth task of renovating the 110-year-old building, where J C Bose and Lady Abala Bose played host to Tagore, Romain Rolland, GB Shaw, Vivekananda, Sister Nivedita, P C Ray, Prasanta Mahalanobis, Meghnad Saha and the like, is about to begin. But the authorities decided to allow the public to visit the museum thrice a week, for now.
And visitors will be able to view the memorabilia of Bose, his original instruments, his laboratory and the dark room where he had made some epoch-making inventions, his priceless collections of art (including frescos by Nandalal Bose and Abanindranath Tagore).
Acharya Bhavan board of trustees member Parul Chakrabarti said, "We were getting requests from different corners of the public domain and then we decided to make the museum accessible to visitors. Since the colossal job of renovating the interiors will also be done soon, the visiting days have been restricted to three for the moment. Once the museum is ready and fully renovated, it will function like a full-fledged museum."
Work on the facade will begin once the interiors are done, said Chakrabarti. The union ministry of culture has sanctioned Rs 7 crore for the project and the Sir J C Bose Trust has appointed INTACH to prepare the detailed project report (DPR). The authorities hope to complete the project in a year.
The board of trustees has undertaken the project to develop Acharya Bhavan into a 'Science heritage museum' of international importance (as envisioned by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who also holds the culture portfolio). The residence of J C Bose has most of the possessions of the scientist intact. These give away Bose's multifarious taste. The trust board, which was formed as early as 1931 for proper management of Acharya Bhavan, has been preserving Bose's possessions for many decades. Even the room where Bose held long adda sessions with Rabindranath Tagore is in its original setting.
But due to lack of funds (even though the income generated by the trust has been used for the maintenance of Acharya Bhavan), the building has developed cracks from outside and many of the artifacts and priceless items kept there have started showing signs of decay. For instance, the priceless paintings by Nandalal Bose need to be preserved professionally. And the several items of historical importance must be displayed and interpreted historically.
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