A group of graduates from the National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology here are trying to help people learn about their heritage and culture — at the click of a mouse.
“Abhijna-e-Museum” is a digital platform that has information about living and lost cultural heritage of India, and potential heritage sites. The website also has sections like “Living Museum”, “Village Museum”, “Open Air Museum” and “Eco Museum”, besides information on lesser-known artisans, craftsmen, art forms and traditions.
Jonbeel Mela
“Once, we had a feature on Jonbeel Mela, a community fair held near Guwahati in Assam in January. People who travel to Guwahati or Assam might not know about this cultural event. If we provide this information, they can travel to the mela , where different tribes come together to participate. We are trying to make people aware of such traditions,” said Abantika Parashar, one of the website founders.
The website, the brainchild of Mrinmoy Das, has been developed by Diganta Sahariah and is being run by Pankaj Prakash Kahalekar, Shishank Pal and Visetuono Kiso.
“While studying museology, we were always discussing the future of museums in India. We realised that known museums already had infrastructure to spread public awareness, but people were unaware of a number of heritage sites and museums across the country. Which is why we thought of coming up with a portal that provided information on culture, heritage, museums and heritage sites,” said Ms. Das.
Some of the lesser-known heritage sites featured on the website include Banderdewa Aniya village of Arunachal Pradesh. The village is home to many tribes, each of which have their distinctive attire, customs, rituals, traditions and language. Lesser-known museums in the Capital, like the Delhi Police Museum, have also been written about.
“Despite living in Delhi, the residents are not aware of many museums located here. We are trying to make people aware of their own history and heritage through our portal,” said Ms. Das.
According to the website founders, many people interested in history, heritage and travel are connecting with them through Facebook and Twitter.
