If Raisina Hill structures are heritage, how is National Museum building colonial?

For decades, the National Museum, located in the heart of India’s capital New Delhi, has served as a symbol of the country’s glorious past. Emerging from the horrors of Partition in the post-Independence era, it was imperative to establish a museum that honoured India. Under one roof, the museum houses artefacts, sculptures, paintings and objects of the past spanning over six thousand years, boasting about the rich history and cultural heritage of the country. Today, the ‘National Museum’—the nation’s museum—is a must-see for both locals and tourists.

However, by March 2024, the National Museum building will be razed to make way for ‘Kartavya Path’, as part of the Narendra Modi government’s ambitious Central Vista project. The news of its demolition has given rise to sharp criticism from heritage experts, conservators, historians, archaeologists, and activists. An open letter to the government, asking it to stop the demolition, shows how heartbreaking the move is for many people. But the government is seemingly persistent, which raises pertinent, thought-provoking questions. It’s true that the objects housed in the museum are precious and historical, but so is the building. How fair is it then to raze it rather than repurpose it? And how fair is it to suggest that these structures represent “colonial ethos that the country was subjected to”, as argued by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri?

Also read: Modi’s Central Vista project has a history-shaped hole in it

First museum of Independent India

The concept for showcasing a collection of items originated from an exhibition titled ‘The Arts of India and Pakistan’, held in 1947–1948 by the Royal Academy of Arts in London. After the success of this exhibition, it was decided to display the similar collection under the title ‘Masterpiece of Indian Art’ at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi in 1949.

Subsequently, it was decided that the collection will form the core of a new museum, the National Museum, which was inaugurated on 15 August 1949 by then-Governor General RC Rajagopalachari. But it was in 1955 that Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation of the building, which was designed by the first Indian chief architect of the Central Public Works Department, GB Deolalikar and constructed by Bhagwat Singh. The first phase of the museum building was formally inaugurated by then-vice president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on 18 December 1960. The second building was completed in 1989.

The museum – its octagonal plan and layout – and its location were linked to Edwin Lutyens’ plan. In the early 1900s, when the imperial capital was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi, the idea of building a series of museums, including an Imperial Museum in Rajpath and Janpath, was floating around. Though none of the museums saw the light of the day and subsequently the plot for the Imperial Museum was given to the Archaeological Survey of India, a museum did emerge in 1960 close to that spot.

Many have argued that the museum reeked of colonialism  from the beginning. But that is just one side of the argument. If following certain things with alteration is said to be colonial, then there are many more symbols from India’s past that would fall in this category. If the National Museum acquired “symbolic depth through the very shallowness of its history: that it was a new museum made by a new nation”, where Indian artefacts are used for their aesthetic, it also successfully initiated the recovery from the so-called colonial hangover.

Also read: National Museum guards, guides aren’t just worried about artefacts—’Will I have a job?’

An archaeologist’s heaven

Today, over 2,00,000 objects spanning over six thousand years from all corners of the subcontinent are exhibited in the museum. A simple walk through the galleries  ‘following the river of history’ can take you from the wonders of the Harappan civilisation (the Indus Valley Civilisation) to the medieval world.

The first gallery is an archaeological museum dedicated to the Bronze Age. Here, the famous bronze statuette ‘Dancing Girl’, Mother Goddess figurines, fragments of toy-cart, various animal figurines, numerous seals and sealings are displayed. At the centre of the gallery are big typical Harappan jars with floral and faunal depictions. In one of the jars from Lothal, Gujarat, is the famous crow and stone story. There are limestone pillar fragments from Dholavira, Harappan burial (real not replica) from Rakhigarhi, and the original retrieved objects from the Mandi hoard. Apart from Harappan artefacts, copper anthropomorphs and tools like harpoons associated with Harappan contemporaneous Chalcolithic period are also displayed.

As you continue walking, you reach the second urbanisation where Mauryan artefacts and early Buddhist/Kushana sculptures are displayed. Adoration of Stupa, Nagarjunakonda, the famous Standing Buddha of Kushana period, Buddha’s head from Sarnath, and Buddha’s relics from Piprihawa are some of the most important sculptures/artefacts of Ancient India. It is worth mentioning that terracotta Yamuna and Ganaga sculptures from Ahichchhatra are in the Gupta gallery as are Nataraja from Tamil Nadu and Bharata with Rama’s sandals from Vijayanagara period.

Also read: 2020 was a do-over or die moment for museums. But there’s a new divide now

Yug Yugeen Bharat

Museums in India are struggling to compete with the state-of-the-art museums in many developed countries. Given India’s size and its rich cultural and historical heritage, there is no denying that the country needs a museum equipped with better technology and a developed and refined infrastructure. In this context, the idea of a new ‘National Museum’ with modern infrastructure and more room for artefacts is welcoming. The new museum, which is said to be called ‘Yug Yugeen Bharat National Museum’, will be the biggest in the world with over 950 rooms over three storeys.

The artefacts will be shifted to the North and South Blocks where there are many government offices, including the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of External Affairs. It is claimed by the government that the existing buildings in North and South Block at Vijay Chowk will be conserved and retrofitted to make way for a new National Museum as demolishing these buildings will go against heritage norms.

If the structures at Raisin Hill are heritage sites, why is the building of the National Museum not? A matter of concern is the decision to demolish the building instead of repurposing it. If repurposing the North and South Block is possible, why can’t we look for an option to preserve the museum building?

Those who are arguing against its preservation claim that the structures like the National Museum are colonial and ‘Nehruvian’, but those who are petitioning to preserve them are desperately trying to suggest that these buildings too represent India, not just the objects kept there.

The structure is equally important architecturally. One of the first buildings in a newly formed India and the first museum, the thought of its demolition is saddening. In the name of development and progress, people have forgotten that the National Museum building is the handiwork of Indian architects and labourers who worked hard to create this magnificent structure.

There are also concerns around the safety of the objects. These are rare antiquities, some borrowed on loan, some donated by private collectors. The thought of damaging rare sculptures, artefacts, and paintings is horrifying. Shifting them safely won’t be an easy task. Let’s hope the authorities recognise this.

As we move closer to the date of demolition, I am filled with nostalgia, my heart racing to Janpath to embrace the old-age charm and bid adieu to the building that celebrated India for decades. Soon, we won’t be able to celebrate it anymore. This truly is the end of an era.