Minister inaugurates restored building of District Museum in Vellore fort complex

Minister of Handlooms, Textiles and Khadi M. Vijay Balaji inaugurated a restored building of the District Museum within the fort complex in Vellore on Saturday.

Officials of District Museum, which comes under Commissionerate of Museums of Ministry of Tourism and Archeology, said that the existing museum building was able to have only eight galleries for public view due to lack of adequate space since its inception in September 1985. “Additional space will always help us display more artefacts for the public, especially students and heritage enthusiasts. In that way, the renovated building, which has been provided by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), will increase the footfall,” K. Saravanan, curator, District Museum, told The Hindu.

Along with Collector P.S. Leela Alex, Mr. Balaji also inspected civic amenities in the new facility. Spread around 600 sq. meters, the British-era building, which was restored at a cost of ₹2.5 crore, has 12 new galleries, including those of terracotta, inscriptions, and stone sculptures. Among them, a separate gallery titled as icons of Vellore where prominent persons, who were born or connected to Vellore, was also on display.

Some of the icons are Lakshmanaswamy Ethiraj, who is known for his educational institutions, including the Ethiraj College for Women in Chennai, INA member Govindammal, and King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, who was the last king of Ceylon who died in Vellore.  

The building also has a separate gallery for stamps with over 1,000 stamps from various countries. A gallery for Jaina sculpture and a separate gallery about the Revolt of 1806 AD were also added to the restored building to draw more visitors.

Prior to the restored building, the district museum was cramped with visitors due to limited space. It had 3,261 collections that date back to the prehistoric era. Many rare artefacts were kept in the open, outside the main building of the museum due to lack of adequate space. On an average, around 500 visitors come to the facility during weekends and holidays.

The restored Indo-Saracenic style building consists of beautiful arches and Madras roofing. The building once functioned as the official quarters of the British officers, who were stationed inside the fort to guard Mysore rulers, Hyder Ali and his warrior son, Tipu Sultan’s families. These structures were built with traditional lime and mortar methods.