Chalan Beel Museum in dire need of renovation

Lack of maintenance and negligence by the authorities concerned has led to the depleted state of the Chalan Beel Museum in Natore, which requires total renovation to preserve its historic artefacts.

The Chalan Beel region is spread over several north-western districts such as Rajshahi, Natore, Naogaon, Bogura, Pabna, and Sirajganj, which had been under the direct influence of several artistically rich royal families for over centuries centring Natore, then the capital (from 1793 to 1825 during east India company’s rule) and later a sub-division of Rajshahi (from 1829).

Therefore, the anthropological and archaeological importance of the museum is immense as it contains the remains of several dynasties, from Mughals to Zamindars, in the form of ancient coins, terracotta plaques, stone statues, manuscripts, locks of the British era among other artefacts. Old currencies of different countries, stone pieces of an Egyptian pyramid, hand-written miniature copies of the Holy Qurans of Emperor Alamgir and Nasiruddin, ornamental bricks, a large number of decorated earthen pots, wooden sandals and ancient iron weapons are also there but all in a state of neglect, the locals said.

The museum was established on September 1, 1978, on an interim basis at the Khubjipur Dwimukhi Ucchya Bidyalay and M Haque Degree College premises at Khubjipara of Gurudaspur in Natore, with the sole initiative of Professor MA Hamid of the college and the help of locals after the Liberation War. The contribution of Prof MA Hamid was crucial for the development of the museum as he has dedicated his life collecting these artefacts from different sources, locals said.

The Department of Archaeology on July 2, 1989, declared the museum as government property and a departmental museum considering the residents’ demand. The government of Norway disbursed a financial grant of Tk 1.20 lakh for the development of the museum by which the two-storied building was constructed.

However, after a few years, the second floor of the building broke down and has remained inoperative since then.

According to a senior official of the Archaeology Department and the locals, the government has not taken any initiative so far to construct a proper building for the museum. It is no longer able to properly preserve the artefacts, they said.

Therefore some of the artefacts, including idols of Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Shree Krishna, and some 90 ancient gold, silver, brass made coins have been transferred to Mahasthangarh Museum to ensure better care, preservation, and security, they said.

A recent visit to the area found the remaining artefacts in the dilapidated building of the museum stored in utter negligence and carelessness, which might ultimately damage them. A class IV employee Abu Bakkar is overseeing the museum since 2002.

Abu Bakkar told The Business Post that after transferring the most valuable artefacts of the museum to the Mahasthangarh Museum, the authorities concerned have discharged all 10 of its employees and employed him to oversee the museum.

“The remaining 104 historical relics in the museum are stored in a haphazard manner in one of the rooms of the building. The college authorities have occupied the rest of the building and its premises,” said Abu Bakkar.

Shafiqul Islam, a teacher of Khubjipur High School, said that the Archaeology Department has tried to transfer the museum to some other place as, according to them, the location of the museum is not proper to turn this into a tourist attraction and derive revenue from it.

In the face of resistance from the locals, the department could not relocate the museum.

Quoting the locals and teacher Shafiqul, caretaker Abu Bakkar told The Business Post that primarily eight decimals of land were used to build the museum. However, storing all the remaining artefacts in one room, the college authorities are using the rest of the building.

Nahid Sultana, regional director of the Archaeological Department, Bogura branch, said that some of the artefacts are kept at the Mahasthangarh Museum for better preservation purposes.

“As soon as the issues with the dilapidated museum get sorted out, we will return the artefacts to Chalanbeel,” she said.

“We are informed that the authorities from the adjacent college and club occupied four decimals of the museum’s property. We have contacted the higher authority to take measures to mitigate these crises,” she added.