[Reader-list] Museums can educate

[Shivam Vij]

A Lesson from History

By Shobita Punja 
The Telegraph / 12 May 2004
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040512/asp/opinion/story_3233547.asp


The election results are awaited and may the best
people win, may the winners
take their new roles with humility and losers live on
gracefully, and may
everyone realize that some good lies in everyone.

It’s a prayer, but it’s also an introduction to a
story about the importance of
museums, about the value of their collections. We have
over 700 museums in
India, and each one boasts of the uniqueness of its
collection. Each object
tells a story — we only need people who can hear their
story and grasp the vital
role that museums can play in our everyday polity. The
significance of one
object in the collection of the Bharat Kala Bhavan in
Varanasi is the centre of
this story.

Bharat Kala Bhavan is one of India’s finest and this
world-famous museum is
located in the throbbing, vibrant city of Varanasi
within the Banaras Hindu
University campus. The sprawling campus has shady
avenues and huge faculty
buildings. The museum originated from the private
collection of a single
visionary individual — Rai Krishnadasa. When the
museum was transferred to the
university in 1950, just after independence, several
other donors continued to
enrich the museum’s collection. Unfortunately, no
Indian government has ever
clearly understood the role of museums in the
education of its citizens.

The museum has an outstanding collection of sculptures
of the Mauryan, Sunga
Kushan and Gupta periods. The painting collection of
the museum is spectacular
with Buddhist manuscripts, and exquisite Mughal
paintings from early Akbar
period, works like the Hamzanama and also delicate
miniatures from the Pahari
school.

If one were to vote, one of the most maligned
characters of Indian history would
definitely be Aurangzeb, the third son of Shah Jahan.
The creator of the
beautiful Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan, did what no father
should ever do to his sons
and that is to publicly favour one son and belittle
another. We are told that
Shah Jahan so loved his son Dara Shikoh that he openly
criticized his son
Aurangzeb. Anger, jealousy and court politics ensured
that Aurangzeb took
revenge on his father and imprisoned him and killed
his rival brother.

Aurangzeb also inherited from his lavish father a
bankrupt empire, from which
large sums of money had been spent on an extravagant
lifestyle and building
works. Aurangzeb, in reaction, and trying to be a
responsible ruler, professed a
simple, austere, lifestyle and tried to do so by
example. Yet Aurangzeb is
always depicted in history as an intolerant,
insensitive man.

But one of the most important objects in the
collection of the Bharat Kala
Bhavan is a farman or royal decree of Aurangzeb’s
inelegant calligraphy, signed
and sealed with his insignia. The farman proclaims
that “in accordance with the
Holy Law, we decided that the ancient temples of
Varanasi shall not be
overthrown but that new ones shall not be built.

“No person will disturb Brahmins and other Hindu
residents in those places so
that they remain in their occupation and continue with
peace of mind to offer
prayer. For the continuance of our god-given empire
that is destined to last for
all time
you are instructed to follow this decree
immediately.”

Would it be possible to hope that politicians will
change? That they will decide
to leave residents of India to continue to live “with
peace of mind”? To hope
that India will be a place where ancient historic
buildings can live in peace in
their surroundings, that they will not be stormed by
the army, or reduced to
rubble in anger or out of political rivalry? Would it
be possible to stop
building new places of worship till we have learnt to
care for the ancient ones
that make every nook and corner of India a sacred
land?

Let us hope that whoever wins this election will value
human life and the
creative spirit that constructs significant buildings,
and crafts objects of
art. Museums showcase astounding samples of human
creativity, which reflect how
the human mind can refine and improve itself. Museums
can educate.



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