For the group of 45 students from various schools, the museum buildings were as much exciting as the exhibits preserved inside them. They lined up before every gallery, evinced interest in the statues and peered through the glass cases to study the inscriptions.
Nearly 20 of the students, who had been to the museum before, nodded knowingly at the displays, as the rest of the group walked around, awed. Archaeology displays, especially, triggered hushed discussions among them, as they feverishly jotted down the curator's comments in their notebooks. The students, invited to the museum as part of the ‘Know Your Museum' programme, will be taken around the museum for three days from Tuesday.
Inaugurating the programme, Commissioner of Museums T. S. Sridhar said that each gallery specialises in a particular subject, helping students gain a comprehensive knowledge about it. “This museum has a wide range of galleries, and a dedicated gallery for the children. The 150-year-old museum records three lakh visitors every year,” he told the students.
Museums were the place to learn the history and culture in a fun way and students must make use of the programme to learn more about their country, he said. The curators of the gallery would accompany the students, explaining in detail about the displays and the history behind some of significant collections. The programme, conducted as part of Museum Day celebrations, will also feature screening of movies ‘Wonderful Sea Life,' ‘Earth Day,' and ‘Chandrayaan-I.' The students will be taken around the art, archaeology, numismatics, botanical, geology and zoology galleries. Special talks on snakes, coins of India and satellite launch vehicles were also part of the programme.
