the goan I network
PANAJI
Speaking to ‘The Goan’, museum curator Radha Bhave said the shifting of over 10,000 objects of collection to the Adil Shah Palace may be completed in three to four days. “We’ve already shifted 80 percent of the collection at the museum, and are currently ongoing. We are waiting for professionals to come to the state to dismantle two artifacts, the chariot and the printing press,” she said.
For museum authorities and experts, dismantling the artifacts which are of historical importance would be an enormous challenge. For instance, the printing press which was brought to Goa by the Portuguese in 1556 AD and was the first machine used for printing in the whole of Asia.
Also, tedious task of dimantling would be that of the chariot which contains ancient wooden carvings that were earlier believed to belong to the Shree Chandreshwar Bhootnath temple at Gudi-Paroda village. It was used to ferry Lord Chandranath during festivals at the temple. Museum authorities had taken possession of the four-wheel chariot over 12 years ago when the temple replaced it with a new one.
Though these two artifacts will be dismantled, it will not be reassembled at the Adil Shah palace. “We will dismantle the two artifacts with the help of the experts and transfer it to the new place but won’t be reassembling it. We will reassemble it only after shifting to the new place,” said Bhave.
The new building that will come up in place of the existing one is expected to be completed in two or three year’s time. Adding that this was only a temporary measure, Bhave added there would be regular exhibitions despite the shift.
“We will continue to display them on rotations through exhibitions every now and then till we can move to the new building. It may take more than 2-3 years,” she said.
Goa State Museum was established in 1977, it contains departments including Ancient History and Archaeology, Art and Craft, and Geology
The museum, as of 2008, had about 8,000 artifacts on display, including stone sculptures, wooden objects, carvings, and anthropological objects
The museum was created as an Archaeology Museum in 1973, opening a small museum in a rented building on 29 September 1977
After building a new museum complex, it was formally inaugurated by the President of India on 18 June 1996
