Museums keep records of the march of history. They chronicle the major turns and twists that man goes through during his journey forward as a nation or a community. The objects and written records kept there on display help man have an insight into many an era in the bygone days. Forgetting the past or being oblivious to it is part of our nature. It is the works of history and museum displays that won't let us close the chapter on the past.
The idea of a conventional museum brings to our mind endless paraphernalia of objects. Those were once integral to a particular civilisation, a nation's distant or near past comprising realities that have existed in socio-political, economic, cultural and, even, geological sectors.
These days, museums are fast becoming subject-specific. Besides the traditional ones, there is hardly any area in human life that is not covered by museums. In developed countries, we come across the museums having displays of objects from the scientific world, fabrics, postal service, telecommunications, the media, to even military hardware. With the mind-boggling progress in space science, aviation & avionics, genetic studies, computer science, automobiles, robotics etc, the earlier frontiers of museums have long been expanded. Even in the emerging and developing countries, the museums featuring evolution of monetary transactions, trees and plants and gardening, climate research and other related areas have begun appearing. Like in the industrialised countries, railway museums occupy a dominant place in many Third World countries.
In Bangladesh, we have the National Museum in the capital Dhaka. The other general museum is located in Rajshahi city in the country's western zone. It is called Varendra Research Museum. The Liberation War Museum was set up in 1996 in Dhaka on a private initiative to showcase the objects related to the nation's heroic War of Independence. The National Museum, earlier called Dhaka Museum, was set up in 1913 with Nalini Kanta Bhattasali (1888-1947) as its first curator. It was formally transformed into the country's national museum in 1983, with the location shifting from older Dhaka to Shahbagh in the city. The Varendra Research Museum, now supervised by Rajshahi University, was set up in 1910. It has a rich collection of invaluable relics discovered from the ruins of Mahasthangarh and Paharpur in the country's northern region.
With the young enthusiasts periodically exploring archaeological sites, experts have now reached the consensus that the country's distant past is replete with glorious eras in the ancient times. Apart from the major discovery of human settlements during pre-Christ times on the banks of Meghna and Brahmaputra in Wari-Bateshwar near Dhaka, ruins of ancient installations have lately been discovered elsewhere in the country. As archaeologists view it, the eastern part of the greater Bengal continually enjoyed the focus of the European and Middle Eastern traders in the past. Our large rivers and the Bay of Bengal contributed a lot to this trade link.
Bangladesh should have taken initiatives long ago to set up a trade museum, featuring its ancient trade with overseas countries. Many have hinted at the possibility of discovering ruins of shipyards on the river banks.
The country is a river-based one. Through the ages, its inhabitants have been using traditional wooden boats as the chief mode of transport. Perhaps few countries in the world can boast of such a fabulous variety of boats. The ones of day-to-day use apart, we have specially made boats for boat race. Before the introduction of engine-driven trawlers, massive sailed boats were used for carrying merchandise. Mechanised vessels have replaced the bamboo cane-covered boats of the yesteryear that were used for carrying newly wed brides and grooms. The younger generations look for these Bangla boats while on a river journey. Their textbooks do not give much information about these river transports. A special museum, featuring everything associated with the boat, could help the young people and children learn about it.
The same rationale could be used in the setting up of a museum dedicated to our agriculture and the fishing sector. Parents or teachers are found these days frantically trying to describe the shapes of a Langol, a Joal or fishing nets.
However, museums are not meant exclusively for becoming part of field education. The chief reason why a nation needs museums is acquaintance with its past. Many countries in the modern world care a fig for preserving their heritage sites from the past. Fortunately, our apathy has not fallen to that extent. Yet we ought to be more sensible. For museums help discover ourselves anew.
shihabskr@ymail.com
Museums explore our past glory
Shihab Sarkar | Published: November 06, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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