Space crunch forces museum in Maha's Paithan to keep 9,000 antique artefacts away from public eye

These rare and antique items were collected by late Dr Balasaheb Patil, who donated his collection to the state Archaeology Department.Nearly 9,000 antique artefacts are yet to be put on display at Dr Balasaheb Patil Archeological Museum in Paithan town of Aurangabad district and the situation has remained unchanged since 1997.

Nearly 9,000 antique artefacts have remained away from the public eye as the museum in Maharashtra's Paithan town, where these things were supposed to be displayed, cannot accommodate them due to space crunch, said a family member of the man who collected and donated these objects to the government. The situation has remained unchanged in the last 26 years as the museum was inaugurated in 1997, he said. These rare and antique items were collected by late Dr Balasaheb Patil, who donated his collection to the state Archaeology Department.

''Nearly 9,000 antique artefacts are yet to be put on display at Dr Balasaheb Patil Archeological Museum in Paithan town of Aurangabad district and the situation has remained unchanged since 1997. Lack of space is the key issue here and the antique items are kept in locked rooms at present,'' Jaywant Patil, son of late Balasaheb Patil, told PTI on Thursday.

Dr Patil had collected the antique items from historically rich city of Paithan. Paithan, known in the ancient times as Pratishthan, was the capital of Satavahana dynasty nearly 2,000 years back. ''My father collected these items carefully from 1950 to 1987 by spending from his own pocket. He donated the antique pieces to the Archaeology Department and a museum was set up by 1997 in Sant Dyaneshwar Garden in Paithan after the Irrigation Department provided land for it,'' Patil added.

At present, around 800 antique items are on display. But thousands of items, including toys, terracotta figures, paintings, Paithani sarees, utensils made up of elephant tusks, are lying with the irrigation department. They are yet to be put on display due to space crunch at the museum, he said.

The collection includes a device used 2,000 years ago to mint coins. A large number of manuscripts are also part of it, Patil said. When contacted, Superintending Engineer of the Irrigation Department (Jayakwadi dam and Dnyaneshwar garden) Samadhan Sabbinwar said, ''We are chalking out a plan to renovate the garden area spread over 200 acres. We will set up a new building for the museum and see that the collection of antique things get the space that is required to put these things on display.''