Indian Museum comes to the aid of the visually challenged

Kolkata, May 29 As part of a pilot project to make the museum accessible for everyone, the authorities are working with Blind Persons' Association in the city to install Braille sign boards. "We will have signages in all the galleries within a year.

It doesn't matter whether you can see with your eyes or not. What we have here is national treasure and it should be accessible for all," museum Director Dr Jayanta Sengupta told PTI.

"You can feel the vibrancy of heritage around yourself. Being in the vicinity is itself an experience," he said. The first one to have such signage will be Bharhut gallery which shows the architectural remains from Bharhut belonging to Shunga period, along with similar fragments from Bodhgaya during second and third century BC.

Buddhist stupa is the most precious possession in the gallery. Amiyo Kumar Biswas of the Blind Persons' Association said they prepared Braille text for signage in three languages - Hindi, English and Bengali.

Having Braille scripts however won't be enough for the visually challenged visitors and therefore the museum is also working on plans to prepare replicas of some of the gems.

PTI