STAFF CORRESPONDENT
DIBRUGARH: Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the newly-constructed building of the District Museum here on Wednesday, thereby providing a permanent infrastructure with modern facilities for research, collection of artifacts and their preservation, which was a long-felt need in the Upper Assam region of the State.
The three-storey building has been constructed with an amount of Rs 3.43 crore and includes six galleries, a basement for parking facilities, an auditorium and office rooms. Out of the proposed six galleries, the archaeology gallery is now complete for public viewing. The galleries have been developed under the aegis of Assam State Museum Management Society with a budget amounting to Rs 11 lakh. The District Museum at Dibrugarh was established in March 16, 1987 and since then it was functioning from the district library auditorium
Inaugurating the museum, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal paid a visit to the archaeology gallery which depicts representative history of stone and terracotta scriptures based on aesthetics and nature of collection found in the remnants of ancient and medieval Hindu temples and archaeological sites of Assam. A very remarkable artifact of this gallery is a stone inscription which dates back to 675 -725 AD. The rest of the galleries include ethnographic heritage, numismatic, arm and armours, textiles and manuscripts which are in the planning level now.
Later talking to mediapersons, Sonowal said that with the inauguration of the new building of the District Museum, a long-standing demand of the people of Dibrugarh had became a reality. He said that the new building, which is the second largest in size after the State museum in Guwahati, would provide a fitting platform for preservation of the rich heritage of the State. He observed that students and researchers would also be immensely benefitted from this museum.
Minister of State for Cultural Affairs, Naba Kumar Doley, MLAs Prasanta Phukan, Rituparna Baruah and TerosGowala, CEM of Sonowal Kachari Autonomous Council, Diphu Ranjan Makrari, and other dignitaries were present at the inaugural function.
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