A museum in a vast building on a 1.04-lakh sqft area will be a major tourist attraction in Dharmsathala after mid-November.
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will inaugurate it in the temple town on October 24.
Named ‘Manjusha’, it is in fact an upgrade to the same museum that was initially opened here in 1989 by the then Chief Justice of India E.S. Venkataramaiah.
Now in the new building, the old collection will be showcased along with newer ones.
The collections include Indian stone and metal sculptures, ritual objects, music instruments, gramophones, radio sets, traditional wooden doors and windows, manuscripts, palm leaves and the like.
Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, D. Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari, Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala, said that the museum will be opened for people after November 15. Adults will have to pay ₹10 per person while it will be free for children below 12 years. He said about 1 lakh students visit Dharmasthala annually. They will be exposed to the rich Indian heritage and culture by visiting the museum.
Taking a tour of of the museum, Ritesh Sharma, the consultant of the museum project, said that the artefacts have been displayed under 15 sections.
K. Pushpadanta, curator, said that the collections include fossils collected from England, Germany, Japan, China and the United States. It has Neolithic Age materials collected and donated by people.
The metal sculptures have been displayed under Shaiva, Jain and Vaishnava categories. Their period was between the 5th century A.D. and the 19th century A.D.
A 10th-century old ‘sapta matruke’ stone sculpture collected from Ballari and a 14th-century old stone sculpture of Krishna collected from Hassan are major attractions.
One can see the palm-leaf manuscript of ‘Bharatha Katha Manjari’ of Kumaravyasa having more than 200 leaves. Each leave is 84 cm long.
The palm-leaf manuscript of Aadi Purana of Pampa has also been displayed.
Other palm-leaf manuscripts are related to natya shastra, shilpa shastra, naadi shastra and manovilasa.
The musical instruments have been displayed under the categories of string, percussion and wind.
