Great nations think great and do great. For underlings, history and culture are unnecessary. A characteristic of greatness is preservation of heritage for posterity. It infuses sense of pride and energizes society to undertake impressive adventures. Tradition of preserving heritage in its healthy and creative form is well established and cared for in developed countries of the west. Even in Eastern countries, and especially those with long history and ancient civilization, have diverted their attention to the preservation of rare antiques and memorabilia of their past. This treasure has served them well and introduced them most eloquently to the future generations. Antiques and artifacts of olden days have been so well preserved in the Russian city of St. Petersburg that it is called the City of Museums. Each house in that city is a museum by itself. Same is true of London, the jewel of the world, where history talks at every turn of the road. Paris and Berlin, Tokyo and Beijing and many other fabulous cities are housing the richest treasures of mankind in the shape of antiques, artifacts, memorabilia and the rest of it. Once, before the rise of barbarous Taliban in Kabul, the city had one of the richest museums in the world. The people of these countries go ecstatic on seeing the visuals and hearing the stories connected with the preservations.
But nearer home, we have to hang our heads in shame that we are lacking in aesthetics and the sense of history. We are not fully aware of the historicity of our heritage and we do no care to divert our efforts to its preservation. Dogra rulers ruled over the State for full one century. By and large they enjoyed an era of peace and tranquility. They did not have to fight any war during the entire course of their rule of a century. As such, they had time, energy and resources to devote themselves to the aesthetics that flourished at the royal court. In particular, Maharaja Ranbir Singh can be singled out as one who attached great significance to the cultural wealth of his State. It was he who had ordered collection of valuable Sanskrit, Pali, Arabic and Farsi manuscripts scattered in private possession all over the State and founded the Research Library under whose aegis many rich and rare manuscripts were published. He also incepted the small museum to which additions were made by Maharaja Pratap Singh and it was renamed as SPS Museum Lal Mandi, Srinagar. Along with that, the Tosha Khana was established in both the capital cities where treasures of rarities were deposited for preservation. In Jammu, the treasure was deposited in safe vaults of royal complex in Mubarak Mandi. The accidental fire of 2006 in the part of complex housing the treasure, made the State government relocate the treasure in a safe and secure room in the new secretariat. Ever since the custodial rooms have remained locked and nobody knows what is the condition of these rich pieces of rarities. The government had promised to return these to the Mubarak Mandi Complex after a safe vault was ready. That never happened and nothing moved ever since.
What should be done now is that we have a pressing need of establishing a new museum complex in Jammu city at a good location that is easily accessible to visitors. The museum has to be built along modern lines and with the guidance from experts in Museum-logy. It must become a great place of attraction for tourists, students, researchers and art lovers. There is a whole treasure of artifacts, antiques and memorabilia not necessarily only what has been left behind by Dogra rulers but even before and after them, too, we have a rich history. Each district of Jammu has a fund of history behind it and all of these must be represented in the proposed museum. Once fully established, such a museum will become self-generating unit. Visits to the museum would be through purchase of tickets as is the practice everywhere in the world. What is needed is the seed money and sensible planning. This is the best way of preserving the antiques from wear and tear owing to weather conditions. This will also give the people of Jammu region a sense of pride and sense of history.
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