Gandhi Memorial Museum here has been renovated.
The summer palace of Rani Mangammal, built in 1670 A.D. and housing the museum since 1959, has thus got a facelift.
According to its secretary M.P. Gurusamy, Rs. 1.25 crore was spent for renovating the museum in two phases. The main building was revived in the second phase. The ground floor remains unused on instructions from the Archaeology Department. The first floor has several galleries depicting Indian independence struggle, visual biography of Mahatma Gandhi, exhibiting relics and replicas of relics used by Mahatma Gandhi.
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“For the first time, the heritage building has been renovated since the establishment of the museum. Much care was taken to preserve the historic ethos of the building. It took four months to complete the renovation with the help of architects and engineers,” Mr. Gurusamy said.
The building had developed cracks at various parts particularly on the eastern side. “The cracks have been repaired. The damaged wooden beams on the ceiling have been replaced and treated with chemicals to tackle termites. The old electrical lines have been replaced,” he said.
“Since it is the only Gandhi museum in the southern States, we are planning to include more features such as visual biography of all south Indian freedom fighters, besides establishment of a wing for children,” he said.
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The Central and State governments had given Rs. 1.5 crore each for the renovation. More money is expected from the Centre to carry out further renovation. Additional structures were added to the palace during the British rule and the building was the office of the collectors for a few years. After independence, a few more structures such as library were added to the building.
The security at the museum has been strengthened with installation of CCTV cameras, addition of more doors and locks to display.
Spread across a sprawling 13.5 acres, the museum draws an average of 14,000 visitors every month.