Odisha State Museum is situated in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Museum was established in 1932 and shifted to the new building in 1960 where it is currently situated.It has several sections like Palmleaf Manuscript, Archaeology, Epigraphy, Numismatics, Armory, Mining and Geology, Nature, History, Patta Chitra Painting, Art and Craft, Contemporary Art, Anthropology etc. Odisha state museum is a world famous repository of 40000 manuscripts. The administration of the museum controlled by Cultural Affairs Department, Government of Odisha.
HISTORY
Some historians and professors, like William Jones, Harekrushna Mahatab, Prof. Ghanashyam Das and Prof. N. C. Banerjee, established a museum in Ravenshaw College at Cuttack. Later the museum has shifted to Brahmananda Building in old Bhubaneswar. Then it has given the status of a State Museum by the Government of Odisha. Out first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was laid the foundation stone.
MANUSCRIPT MAKING
Palm leaf manuscripts were special among 40000 manuscripts. Written in ink on rectangular cut. To form a book each sheets are bonded with each other. These manuscripts contain specific information of our past, present and future. Many of them are written in the Odia script, though the language is Sanskrit. The oldest manuscript here belongs to the 14th century.
DIGITALISATION
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik launched the ‘e-Pothi’ programme at the Odisha State Museum. More than 40,000 palm leaf manuscripts have been digitized and uploaded in the State Museum portal. General public has access and for the benefit of readers and research scholars.
Museum continued to grow with the general public and the Archaeological Department of the Government of India and other States. Leaflets printed both in Odia and English to make it more popular. Office creates a sense of awareness about the significance of the Museum among people. Large number of tourists , students and the general public visit the Museum everyday.The guide efforts to explain the cultural value of the Museum and its exhibits.
Visit: www.odishamuseum.nic
1 comment
Very good initiative by the then officials and general Odia intellectual. But nothing has moved fast in publishing in form of books to those scripts. Also large number of manuscript are with individual houses in villages across the stazand in neighbouring states. Government should move in s time bound program for collecting those as most must have lost without proper care. It will be a big loss to odia culture.
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