A Day At Bihar Museum

".....it is no exaggeration to say that for centuries, history of India was but the history of Bihar writ large"-Dr. Rajendra Pd

It was my 4th visit to Bihar Museum and I just can't stop coming back again and again.

Since the last visit in 2018, the place has grown richer in artefacts and seems like it's continuously evolving and growing like some organism.

The building complex itself is an architectural beauty. Being designed by Pritzker prize winner(Nobel equivalent in Architecture) Fumihiko Maki it symbolizes the idea of "New Bihar" that's on the path to resurrection, taking inspiration from its glorious past.

Historical artefacts have been very meticulously arranged in various galleries:

• History Gallery A - Focussing on Mauryan and pre-Mauryan empires(Haranyak, Shishunagas, Nandas), along with tenets of Buddhism and Jainism.

• History Gallery B - Takes forward the stories of Shungas, Kushanas, Guptas, Harsha, and the mighty Palas. It also focuses on the spread of Buddhism across the region, with a lot many beautiful and well preserved Buddhist sculptures from my hometown Gaya(especially from the Kurkihar region)

• History gallery C - Tells the tale of medieval Bihar. While medieval times marked the phase of decline of Bihar, with the power center shifting to Delhi(Sultanates & Mughals) things got much worse under the British and it reflects on little progress made in the development of art and architecture. Among bright spots is some works of Sher Shah Suri and Bihar's Sikhism connect.

Apart from these, there's a special focus on showcasing regional arts e.g Madhubani painting and various other art forms like terracotta works. There also is a large circular art made of kitchen utensils by artist Subodh Gupta which occupies a central position in both the museum and the psyche of a visitor when s/he thinks back about the experience.

The center of attraction, of course, is "Didaarganj Yakshi". I had read about her in our textbook and this was our 1st meeting. I must admit she's very beautiful and feels so

alive. Must be crafted by some Michelangelo we don't know about yet.

They also play a short movie summarising the journey of Bihar through time. This particularly I found to be a good initiative, helping uninitiated to capture the essence on things around. The 12-year old kid I visited with, did learn a thing or two from it.

Time here lapses so fast that when I was yet to cover some of the exhibitions, it was already the closing time. It demands another visit, one with more time. I just wish it be sooner.