Thousands of relics belonging to the time period between the Pre-Marian era to the British rule have been kept without proper care in a store room – as well as in front of – the Mahasthangarh Archeological Museum premise for a long time.
Md Badrul Alam, Regional Director (RD) in charge of the department in Bogra, admitted to this carelessness and said that the government has taken an initiative to build another museum at the Mahasthangarh site under South Asian Tourism Infrastructure Development Project (SATIDP).
Professor Dr Shahnaj Husne Jahan, Cultural Heritage Management Specialist at SATIDP, however told the Dhaka Tribune that there is no plan to build a new museum building in the site but the authorities are going to change the interior decoration of the existing museum.
An excerpt from the autobiography of Rabindranath Tagore found at the museum
According to the department, at least five thousand artifacts including two thousand statues have been kept in the Mohasthangarh museum store room for long time. This includes many paper documents such as former American President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address of 1863, along with Rabindranath Tagore’s autobiography. On the other hand, artifacts of different dynasties including Gupta and Pala were put in the museum premises under the sky for visitors a while back.
Former Director General (DG) In-Charge, Department of Archeology Bangladesh Md Abdul Khaleque, told the Dhaka Tribune over phone that important relics of different eras including Pre-Marian period were kept in the museum properly during his tenure.
Department sources said that hundreds of artifacts including clay seal, which were found during several archeological excavations in Vasu Vihara and adjacent areas, are kept in the museum without any proper care.