Visiting a historic Museum always gives us some deep insight into the culture , life and suffering of the people. Our visit to Partition museum was not less than an adventure that gives us goosebumps. Our visit to the museum was during our Amritsar trip. The museum is quite popular among the visitors and it reminded us the suffering of the people that they had to go through during the partition in 1947.
Like any other museum that displays, artifacts, art etc., this museum is quite different. The museum focuses on personal stories. The museum is known as a "People's Museum," basically due to the facts that it focuses on collecting and displaying stories, documents, and materials from the people affected by the Partition, including oral histories and personal artifacts. It took us 10 min to reach the historic site situated in midst of the busy street of Amritsar.
The Partition Museum building is famous for being the world's first museum dedicated to the 1947 Partition of India, located in the historic Town Hall building. The goal of this museum is honoring those who lost their homes and loved ones and becoming a central repository for Partition related memories and documents. The town hall building has a huge fort like structure. It has statue of Raja Ranjit sing and a small fountain right in the middle of the entrance.
The arched entrance to the townhall was beautifully decorated chandeliers. It gives us a different feeling while making our way towards the historical place.
The Town Hall building was built in the 19th century and became a site of historical importance during the Partition era. It was a structure that witnessed the unrest and violence that followed the event. Entering the complex shows us some images of the freedom fighters pasted on the wall.
While the rest of the space is used for the various recreational purpose. Being one of the tourist spot, it has shops, cafe and playing zone for the kids the entire area was bustling with people.
Seeing the rush inside the complex made us clueless. We were confused if we were actually at a museum site or not. But the museum ticket is at one corner of the complex. There is a specific portion of the building which is occupied for museum purpose. The entrance ticket cost us Rs.10 per person.
The museum has multiple galleries with diverse exhibits, including original artworks, photographs, and multi-media displays that capture the trauma, displacement, and lasting impact of the Partition. The Partition is considered to be one of the black chapter in our history. An estimated 14 million people were displaced, and as many as 1 million died in massacres, sexual violence, and due to disease and starvation as they fled across the new borders. The museum showcases all the suffering with some photos may give goosebumps. Photography is strictly prohibited inside the museum, the guards and the staff member were very strict and alert regarding photos and videos. So all who went inside just made sure to take the deep dive into feel the pain. I manage to capture only this golden switches from inside the museum.
We spent good 2 hrs inside the museum, listening to various documentary and reading the various stories of the Partition. It is one of the cruelest phase. One photographs where an eagle sitting on the dead corpses on the street really shaken me. No one could ever imagine what the people of our nation gone through during the colonial era. Partition Museum is the official link that can put more limelight on the museum.
In good faith - Peace!!
