Vellore museum to get 3-D gallery, additional building

Saravanan told DT Next that the gallery would have chairs for visitors, who were till now being seated on the floor. Also, the museum would get an adjacent 9,000 sqft building, owned by the Archeological Society of India (ASI), built in 1963 to house the district magistrate’s court. It was later used by Tiruvalluvar University for some time. The approval from ASI headquarters, New Delhi, for the building would come shortly, he said. 

The museum has a chequered history. Inaugurated in 1985, it was housed in the Town Hall till the Collector’s ffice and courts functioning from inside the Fort shifted to new premises. 

The museum, which receives around 200 visitors on weekdays and 500 on weekends, has been using the 6,000 sqft building inside the Vellore Fort. “We have submitted a Rs 15-lakh proposals to the state government to get the new building,” Saravanan said.

“Once all facilities are in place, we will ensure that a visitor spends at least half a day on the museum premises, imbibing history and relaxing in the cool and green environs,” he said. 

Repair and renovation work on the adjacent building was recently completed. It would house separate galleries for philately, pre-history and Jain history. The artefacts and exhibits would be neatly displayed along with explanatory notes.  

“Shifting these to the new premises will create more space for both exhibits and visitors,” Saravanan said. 

“Besides these, 20 large showcases were also being readied to place the new exhibits” he added.