Saturday | 5 October 2024 | Reg No- 06
বাংলা
   
Saturday | 5 October 2024 | Epaper
BREAKING: ● Sailor dies after oil tanker catches fire in Ctg      ● Ex-president Badruddoza Chowdhury passes away      ● Killing during students' movement: 9 bodies to be exhumed in Sylhet      ● Malaysian prime minister leaves Dhaka for home      ● CA seeks Malaysian support for Bangladesh to be ASEAN dialogue partner      ● Malaysian PM assures of attention to 18,000 Bangladesh workers       ● Bid to kill Khaleda Zia: Sheikh Hasina among 113 sued      

Asia’s first captivating Ethnological Museum 

Published : Thursday, 15 August, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 339
Mahmuda Begum Sinthia
Asia's first and largest ethnological museum, The Ethnological Museum in Bangladesh is a significant captivating cultural institution and pride house in the world. It alone is a worth trek out of Port city, Chattogram, located near Foy's Lake, Bangladesh. It is a treasure trove in the Bangladesh cultural heritage, besides a Mughal chronicle: Lalbagh Fort, a UNESCO World HeritageSite famous 60-dome Mosque, another UNESCO World Heritage Site - Paharpur Buddhist Monastery, another crown jewel,a UNESCO World Heritage Site - The Sundarbans, ancient Sonargoan, Folk Art museum and Panam City, The Nawab's Palace: Ahsan Manzil, Rose Garden Palace, another UNESCO World Heritage Site - late Mughal era's terracotta Kantajew Temple, Lalmai-Mainamati, a natural beauty, Cox's Bazar, and other natural and cultural heritages. 

Amongst the four ethnological museums from Bangladesh, Japan, Vietnam in the Asian continent, our national ethnological museum in Bangladesh gives importance to various ethno-cultural history, sculpture, artifact, and documents of different parts of the world in a beautiful and colorful manner.It is located in 1.30 acres adjacent to Badamtoli in Agrabad of the port city of Chittagong. In the early 1960s of the twentieth century, construction work of the museum started. The Ethnological Museum was inaugurated in 1974 by Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and it was opened to the general public on 9 January 1974 by Yusuf Ali, the first Education Minister in the independent Bangladesh government. 

The unique eye-catching design of the museum building holds the feature of that age. Presently it is being executed by the Department of Archaeology (DoA) under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Basically, it is for preserving existing culture, rituals, traditions of various ethnic groups and society. It is set up for both a museum and a research center. 
It shows the diversified lifestyle of various ethnic groups in Bangladesh, particularly 29 Indigenous communities, including those from Chattogram Hill Tracts. It's a renovation of pre-existing to existing phenomenon of ethnological reservation. The present list of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in Bangladesh contains 50 indigenous communities, but unofficially it is estimated to be 54 communities. They speak at least 36 languages. The Bangladesh government has prepared books for pre-primary school-in the nursery section-in five indigenous languages: Chakma, Garo, Kokborok, Marma, and Sadri.

The present museum is organized and dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of Bangladesh's ethnic groups, featuring exhibition on 29 different indigenous societies of Bangladesh as well as ethnological groups of 5 foreign countries including Pakistan, India. It also has artifacts, objects, records from some ethnic groups in India, fragments of the Berlin Wall in Germany, Kyrgyzstan, and Australian ethnic groups. These are monitored for further renovation.

As an impressive lighthouse to a rich and magnificent collection of materials, and everyday objects, the museum represents many major and minor cultures, lifestyle of ethnic groups of Bangladesh include Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Murong, Bam, Khiang, Khumi, Chak, Rakhine, Pankhwa of Chattogram hill tracts; Khasia, Manipuri, Pangan, Patra of Sylhet region; Garo, Hajong, Dalu, Mandai, Koch of Mymensingh region; Santal, Orano, Rajvanshi, Polya of Rajshahi-Dinajpur region; and including Bagdi, Tipra, Tongchangya, Hajonng, Lushei, Shimuji, Bawm and others wild or woven, of the Jessore-Jhenaidah region. It includes life-size models, dioramas, and artifacts such as clothing, jewelry, and household items. The museum plays a crucial role in promoting a deep comprehensive knowledge among the various ethnic communities.  

This museum conceptualizes ethno-indigenous cultural charm and diversity. At the entrance of the museum, visitors get astonished in frontal spacious garden view and a demolished 1989s historic Berlin Wall of Germany. 

It opens out into the wonder of fifteen galleries and a large central hall, roomed into five wide sections. The various photographs, models, and wall paintings of the museum galleries give samples of culture, documents of lifestyle, three thousands two hundreds artifacts, weapons, flower-vases, ethnic attires, handicrafts boats, scissors, musical instruments, maps and murals on the various ethnic festivals and cultures, ornaments, bamboo-pipes etc of the Bangalee ethnic group including the four nations like Pathan, Punjab of Pakistan, India, Australia and Kyrgyzstan and more.


This museum has the replica of the Chakma homestead which is quite attractive, including their daily usages of life materials, weapons, and specimen of script, the traditional boat of the Murangs, the ornaments of the Marma-Murangs, a life model of the Tipras, Manipuri attires, festival materials of the Marmas, weaving machine and thread wheels, axes, scissors, baskets, and bamboo pipes of the Tipras, prototype ornaments by the tribal of India and Pakistan, silver ornaments of the tribes of Swat, Sindh, and Punjab, model and life style of Punjabi women, daily life materials, attires, and photographs of different ethnic societies of the Punjab, weapons used by Swati tribes, and models of a Sindhi bride, mother, and child and more gathered around the museum. Bangla speaking people from ethnic societies are separately outshined with a sense of national significance.

Cultural exchange, enrichment, and representation for the advancement of Bangladesh are immeasurably a need of time as the highlight of diverse cultures, arts, crafts, and heritage of indigenous ethnic groups promotes Bangladeshi cultural pride and value in the world. 

This is particularly the case for academicians, researchers, students, learners, and tourists for whom the museum is a cultural resource lighthouse. To give an estimate, this number is usually around four to five hundred domestic and foreign researchers who visit this museum daily. This museum served as an enlightened document, bringing together past and present civilization and ethnicity for education and knowledge for our advanced generations.

The museum brings under a single shade all the major indigenous and ethnic groups of Bangladesh and the world. The Ethnological Museum emboldens cultural unity, harmonious fraternity, and equalized bondage amongst the different ethnicity dwelling within the territory of Bangladesh as a prime specimen regarding the commitment of this country while acknowledging and rejoicing over the variegated cultural scape. It stands as a testament to the country's commitment to recognizing and celebrating its diverse cultural landscape. 

Hence, this museum demands more elaboration, addition and conservation, following UNESCO guidelines and the rules and regulation of International Association of Museums. Later it might be included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other indigenous ethnic groups' diverse traits and features should preserve with necessary records, highlights and documents. A multi-lingual interpretation centre with modern technology needs to be installed at the very outset of the museum. The museum associates require disciplined trainings in narrating the materials of the museum to the visitors. National and international attention requires very competently. Television, radio medium and educational institutions should play a vital role to carry out more outreaching of this museum. Bangladesh is responsibly liable for the highest restoration and revival of our undeniable empire The Ethnological Museum. 

The writer is teacher, IISD



LATEST NEWS
MOST READ
Also read
Is a full-scale war in Middle East imminent?  
How UN stays relevant by prolonging ME crisis
Unchanging value of literature in the age of algorithms
Teachers should focus on social justice in classrooms
Our fiscal transparency in the report of USA
Joviality in self exploration
The observance of the world teacher's day in the new light
Natural gas crisis in Bangladesh: Is LNG the only solution?
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: info©dailyobserverbd.com, news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
🔝