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Museum for digital tour of Varanasi likely to be launched on Tuesday
The museum will be housed in 17th-century ruler Maharaja Man Singh’s palace – Man Mahal. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage is the knowledge partner for the museum, divided into eight sections.
The first of Union culture ministry’s Virtual Experiential Museums to showcase the country’s rich heritage is likely to be inaugurated in Varanasi on Tuesday.
Following this the National Museum in Delhi will inaugurate a virtual area that will enable visitors to have a real time experience of the Ajanta caves. The Virtual Experiential Museum on Ajanta, to be built in collaboration with IIT Bombay is likely to be opened to the public in June this year.
At the Varanasi museum, visitors can immerse digital lamps in Ganga, take a virtual dip in the holy river, watch digitalised Benarasi paan being made and enjoy Benares gharana’s music, officials said.
The ministry’s National Council of Science Museum has conceptualised, designed and developed the museum that will be known as Abhasiya-Anubhuti Sangralaya. The Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) did the conservation work of the Man Mahal, an early 17th century protected monument, where the museum is housed, said curator-in-charge of the Varanasi museum Anurag Kumar.
The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, the knowledge partner for the museum, has been divided into eight sections. The museum will offer a nearly 90-minute digital travel through the city to capture Varanasi’s cultural, religious and socio-economic facets. A group of 15-20 visitors can take a digital city tour at a time.
Kumar, said they started work on this project in February last year. “The monument [Man Mahal] is protected. We had to ensure that the original structure is not tampered with,’’ he said. “…weaving a story of a complex city… was the biggest challenge under the space constraint. We have attempted to highlight the city’s different cultural aspects.”
Varanasi is not just a city but a civilisation, said Atul Tiwari who has written the script for films and other digitalized experientials. “The museum has endeavoured to encapsulate the civilisation and the ras(flavor) of Varanasi in small space and time.”
Four layered painting in traditional Varanasi style and one of the city’s oldest maps would greet the visitors at the museum where a film will narrate the city’s history before they are taken for a digital tour through the lanes of Varanasi’s lanes, Kumar added.
There are separate sections on the city’s fabric, music and travellers who came to Varanasi. A digitalised Yagnana (holy fire) and the importance of Moksha or salvation in the holy city will also be highlighted at the museum.
A small room with sensor-controlled sprays has been dedicated for the virtual dip into the Ganga . A tour at the museum will end with a holographic show on Varanasi’s traditional Ramlila or re-the enactment of Lord Ram’s life.
