This Mumbai Museum has the Perfect Gift for History Lovers

Do you find history fascinating? Ever wished to cherish the times that your favorite historical personalities lived in? What if you get to gift yourself or your loved one a rock edict of Emperor Ashoka from 250 BC? Or translated manuscripts of Panchatantra in Persian? 

Well, it all can come true this festive season with an innovative initiative, ‘Adopt a Museum Artefact’, from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghrahalya (CSMVS) in Mumbai.

When you buy from the museum, you are helping to support our collections, our Grade I heritage precinct and our craftsmen.#csmvs #csmvsmumbai #csmvsmuseumshop #museumshop #SupportYourMuseum #csmvsmuseum #csmvsstories #museumathome #artforeveryone #togetherapart #ShopLocal pic.twitter.com/JllQj7kjE0

— CSMVS (@CSMVSmumbai) October 29, 2020

With cultural sites remaining closed since mid-March, the officials at the 98-year-old museum in the Fort area of Mumbai have decided to allow people to adopt its centuries-old artefacts. This initiative comes in response to heavy losses that the museum has incurred during the last few months of the pandemic.

Read: Museo Camera Reopens After Hiatus

Nevertheless, it is an opportunity for all history enthusiasts to gift themselves their favorite sculptures, manuscripts, and paintings from different centuries or to finally buy an entire gallery of their choice from a museum that currently houses 70,000 artefacts.

Distinguished into three categories—masterpieces, treasures, and antiquities—interested people can adopt any number of artefacts for two years. 

Whether it is an Indian or an oriental art piece donated by kings and British for 50,000, Raja Ravi Varma’s portrait of Mithibai Bapuji for Rs 2 lakh or one of the major galleries for Rs 30 lakh, the museum aims to connect people to precious artefacts by putting their precious relics for adoption, thus encouraging them to support its ongoing preservation and maintenance.

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Moreover, people who adopt these artefacts will also be named beside their respective objects on display and mentioned on the acknowledgment panel at the museum’s entrance.