Andhra Pradesh, India -- A large chunk of tourists who
visit the district every year are attracted by the Buddhist museums at
Amaravathi and Nagarjunakonda but few people even know that there is a
third and equally important museum which has on display an impressive
range of inscriptions, stone sculptures and pottery items belonging to
the Buddhist era.
<< The pathetic state of the Baudhasree Museum in Guntur. Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar
It is the Baudhasree Archaeological Museum located in the heart of
Guntur city (opposite Andhra Christian College) that unfortunately draws
a handful of visitors.
Tourist destinations
The Amaravathi and Nagarjunakonda museums stand out as the best
tourist destinations due to their beautiful maintenance by the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) while the Baudhasree museum slowly
fades into oblivion.
Little attention is paid to this historic museum by the Department of
Archaeology and Museums of Government of Andhra Pradesh for apparent
reasons.
It has ancient sculptures dating back to the 2nd Century A.D up to the
medieval period. Several centuries-old antiquities are showing signs of
withering due to poor maintenance and many other items are kept in the
fore lawns for want of space.
The museum has a meagre budget that is barely enough to keep it going
and it has no technical assistant to take care of conservation of the
antiquities on display. A non-technical person (junior assistant) who is
on the verge of retirement is functioning as the museum in-charge and,
ticketing income is negligible.
The Baudhasree Museum was established in 1954 and it came under the
purview of State Department of Archaeology & Museums 20 years later.
The original building which housed the museum gave way to a new one
that was inaugurated in September 1992.
The museum used to attract a sizable number of tourists, which
gradually came down and the decline in footfalls was more pronounced
later, noticeably after many artefacts were taken away to Amaravathi
during the Kalachakra event in 2006.
Speaking to The Hindu, Assistant Director of Archaeology &
Museums (Vijayawada) K. Chittibabu said there was a proposal to build a
first floor to accommodate more valuable things and upgrade the existing
library into a research library but the proposals were pending and
estimates have not yet been prepared.
However, he exuded confidence that things would move fast in the near
future while admitting that there are constraints in developing this
historic museum to global standards.
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