CELEBRATING INDEPENDENT INDIA

Saswati Chaudhuri takes an inspiring tour of the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya created as a tribute to all prime ministers documenting local culture and community stories

- Saswati Chaudhuri

The concept of a museum about our prime ministers, or 'Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya' is entirely new. No other country has ever thought of a similar concept to establish a museum. In this aspect, India has introduced a unique idea about a conceptual museum. 'Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya' has been created as a tribute to all prime ministers of India since Independence. In every country museums are precisely important because a museum is the place where local culture and community stories are documented, preserved and displayed, then it becomes a shared memory. To preserve the story of nation building after 1947, at the time when we are celebrating 75th year of independence or 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', an initiative of the Government of India, 'Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya' unfolds major and significant contributions of the prime ministers chronologically. It goes with the notion of the well-recognised definition of museum that decided in 2007 in the Statutes of the International Council of Museums that is, "A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment." This museum presents a narrative record of the works done by each prime minister for the development of the nation commemorating the glorious history of its people, culture and accomplishment.