RAJSHAHI, May 19 (BSS): Varendra Research Museum, the first museum established in erstwhile East Bengal in 1910, is a popular tourist attraction.
The museum, located at the heart of the metropolis and maintained by Rajshahi University, houses the monuments that still defied the ravages of man and nature.
The centuries-old artifacts showcased at the museum present the glorious past of Bengal in general and of Varendra in particular.
The museum originated from Varendra Research Society, which was established by Saratkumar Ray and two of his close associates Akshay Kumar Maitreya and Ramaprasad Chanda.
Saratkumar led an exploratory tour accompanied by AK Maitreya, Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay and a few others to Deopara, Palpara, Malancha, Jugpur, Itahar, Chabbishnagar, Mandoil, Kumarpur, Khetur and Vijaynagar in early April 1910.
The party was able to collect 32 pieces of sculptures, including the life-size images of Chandi from Mandoil.
Then necessity of preserving the collections was grown at Rajshahi. So out of necessity, the Rajshahi Museum (later Varendra Research Museum) was established.
Akshay Kumar constructed the museum building at his own cost on the land donated by his elder brother Raja Pramada Nath Ray of Dighapatiya. Lord Carmichael laid its foundation stone on 13 November 1916. The museum was opened on 27 November 1919.
Gallery-1 showcases relics of the Indus Valley-Civilization (2500 BC), found from the excavations at Paharpur in Bangladesh (8th-12th century AD), Persian farmans and Bangla documents, Sanskrit inscriptions in old Bangla scripts, glazed tiles, metal ware in Islamic style, hand written copies of the Holy Quran, Bangla and Sanskrit manuscripts, Mughal paintings and miscellaneous sculptures in stone and bronze, antiquities from Nalanda, Bihar and other parts of India.
In gallery-2, there are Buddhist and Hindu stone sculptures and modern wood sculptures.
Gallery-3 displays Hindu sculptures: images of Surya, Shiva, Ganesha and Visnu. Cult icons of the Shaktas of Durga-Gauri-Uma-Parvati, the Matrikas and Chamunda are displayed in gallery-4.
Gallery-5 offers images of Buddha, Bodhisattavas, Taras, Jaina Tirthankaras and minor gods and goddesses of Hinduism. Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and old Bangla stone inscriptions, sculptured stones of the Muslim period, miharab, decorated doorjambs and lintels and a pair of Sher Shah's Bronze cannons are displayed in gallery-6.
Acting director of the museum Muhammad Zakaria told the news agency that the museum was furnished with more modern facilities, equipments and designs.
A large number of visitors visit the museum everyday from home and abroad, he added.
The then US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan W Mozena inaugurated the museum's revamped interior, including the display and lighting last year. In the inaugural ceremony, it has also been declared that the US would provide another donation worth $ 85,000, for further renovation of the museum.
