Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum plans discussed as Narendra Modi meets IGNCA trustees

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met trustees of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts to discuss the upcoming Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum in New Delhi. The project will repurpose North Block and South Block as cultural spaces and present India’s 5,000-year story through themed galleries. Trustees also discussed digital and grassroots outreach.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met trustees of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) on Thursday. The discussion focused on plans for the Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum in New Delhi. Modi said the museum project would shift the North Block and South Block from governance to culture. The group also discussed steps to widen public engagement with India’s culture.

Officials earlier said the Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum is billed to be the largest museum in the world. The museum is planned inside the North Block and South Block in the capital’s central zone. The design includes eight theme-based sections. These galleries are set to narrate India’s story across more than 5,000 years.

Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum plan and scale

The proposed Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum is expected to cover 1.17 lakh sqm, officials earlier said. The plan includes 950 rooms across a basement and three floors. The museum is to sit at the centre of the capital, within the North Block and South Block. Officials said the eight segments will present a long timeline of India.

A senior IGNCA official said the prime minister raised the museum plan during the meeting. "The PM told the trustees that this project will transform the North Block and the the South Block, once a centre of power, into a centre of culture,\" the official said. The official linked this shift to the future use of the two central administrative buildings.

Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum outreach and cultural goals

Modi said the meeting also covered methods to deepen cultural outreach. \"Met Trustees of IGNCA and discussed various aspects relating to further popularising Indias diverse culture,\" the prime minister said in a post on X. \"We also explored ways to bring more people into this journey, strengthen outreach through digital and grassroots initiatives and support artists and scholars in preserving and promoting our rich heritage,\" Modi said in the post.

The IGNCA trustees include President Ram Bahadur Rai and members Sonal Mansingh, Vasudeo Kamath, Rathi Vinay Jha, Harshvardhan Neotia, Padma Subrahmanyam, Saryu V Doshi and Prasoon Joshi, among others. IGNCA functions as an autonomous institution. It works under the Ministry of Culture, as listed in its administrative structure.

The North Block and South Block were built during the British era. Along with the Rashtrapati Bhavan, earlier called Viceroy’s House, they form a central part of the Raisina Hill complex. The buildings have long housed key offices of the Union government. The museum plan would repurpose these structures for cultural display and public access.

IGNCA’s stated aims include acting as a resource hub for arts material. It focuses on written, oral and visual sources. It also runs research and publication work, including reference books, glossaries, dictionaries and encyclopaedia on arts and humanities. Another objective is to host dialogue through performances, exhibitions, projections, conferences, seminars and workshops.

With inputs from PTI