“ASI is pleased to announce that on the occasion of International Museum Day, access to all ASI monuments and museums nationwide will be free,” the Ministry of Culture said in a statement.
The International Museum Festival emphasizes the crucial role played by museums in protecting cultural heritage, promoting dialogue between education and nurturing communities and generations.
To encourage wider public participation this year, ASI will have free access to its 52 website museums and a network of all ticketed monuments nationwide that house some of India’s most precious archaeological artifacts, from prehistoric tools and sculptures to medieval inscriptions and more, the statement said.
It said: “This initiative aims to deepen public participation with India’s rich cultural heritage and provide a meaningful platform for people to rebuild history and heritage.”
The ministry said that ASI also has a dedicated museum wing involving the maintenance and management of its on-site museums, including one of the earliest museums located in the archaeological site museums in the country. It said the concept of the Archaeological Site Museum attempts to preserve and display excavations and movable artifacts near the site so that the displayed objects do not lose their context and can be studied at researchers and visitors visiting the site. Recently, the opening ceremony of the Indian Man Mahal Observatory in Lalitagiri in Odisha, Varanasi and Archaeological Sites, and the Virtual Experience Museum in Lalitagiri in Odisha.
Officials say the ASI site museum is being upgraded to promote the needs of all parts of society and that modern interventions such as AR-VR (Augmented Reality Reality Reality) have also been incorporated into the overall experience.
