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A ‘restored’ Dara Shikoh Library, which will include a ‘Partition museum’, could open to the public around December this year, according to officials in the Delhi government’s Department of Archaeology. The building is located within the Kashmere Gate campus of Ambedkar University, and was recently restored.
“The building has been restored and is ready, and the curation of the museum on Partition is underway. The building was handed over to The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust for the museum’s curation,” an official said.
The monument had issues of seepage and dampness affecting the walls since the area is close to a river, the official added.
“We have treated the dampness, and regular maintenance will be done. Basic amenities like washrooms are being set up since the footfall will increase once it is open to the public. We plan to open by December, but it depends on when the curation will be complete,” the official also said.
The building under the Department of Archaeology used to house its office earlier, he added. The project is part of the Ministry of Tourism’s ‘Adopt a Heritage’ scheme, and the agency that is undertaking the curation was shortlisted by the Ministry. After restoration work on it was complete, the building was handed over to the agency for curation work in July.
Writer and historian Rana Safvi said, “It was a haveli of Dara Shikoh’s and the library was just a small part of it. It was in this haveli that the Upanishads were translated. After he died, it was taken over by various people and it then became the Delhi College before Independence. David Ochterlony, a British resident in Delhi, stayed there and it was given a colonial look.”
The building itself had been in bad shape around three years ago, she added.
The museum was to have been inaugurated last year, but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, officials said.
Work on the ‘Partition museum’ in the restored building and outside in its garden began about a month ago, said Kishwar Desai of The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust. “The museum will have stories of the people who went through Partition, collected either first-hand or from family members in Delhi. It will have a gallery devoted to Sindh. We are hoping that by mid-January all areas will be ready,” she said.
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