Culture Secretary Arabind Kumar Padhee on Saturday unveiled two prized elephant tusks as well as old silver and gold coins at the State Museum Conference Hall, which were exhibited on Sunday on the occasion of the International Museum Day.
The tusks were collected from the Jeypore Palace while the coins were procured from the Nabarangpur District Treasury. The coins were donated by a farmer 10 years back when Padhee was the district Collector there.On one tusk, Ram leela and Krushna leela have been engraved and painted with great artistry. The other tusk carries illustrations depicting the Bamana, Matsya, Nurshingha, Kuruma and Baraha avatars.
Dr Padhee has proposed to depute the Curator of the State Museum to leading museums in the country and abroad to gain knowledge and exposure on the latest trends in musemlogy.The Culture Department is contemplating to instal CCTV cameras and to engage guides at the State Museum in order to keep the valuable artifacts safe and secure and also to give accurate information about the items to the visitors.
Sources in the department said a final decision on installation of CCTV cameras and engagement of guides would be finalised soon.“Museums store objects which are not only highly valuables but also hold a lot of historic and scientific importance. In order to avoid robbery and to keep a watchful eye on the stored valuables the Department has already planned keep the museum under CCTV surveillance. Besides, guides will be engaged to make the visitors understand about the precious items,” the sources said.