The entrance of Archeological Museum and (right) a cow grazes on the field with the Vishwa Shanti Stupa in the background in Vaishali. Pictures by Piyush Kumar Tripathi

Patna, Aug. 27: The Archaeological Museum, Vaishali, which houses some rare artefacts excavated from nearby historical sites, including Kolhua stupa and Buddha Relic Stupa, is in a shambles.

The museum seems to have worn out at many places and it faces frequent power cuts. The garden has a poor landscape and the fountain is defunct for the past several months. As a result, very few foreign tourists visit the museum.

Abhiskek Pushkarni (coronation tank) located in front of the museum faces a similar neglect. The steps of the ancient tank believed to be highly sacred at the time of ancient Vaishali city are damaged at various places and its embankment has now become a grazing ground for stray cattle.

Senior officials at the Archaeological Museum admitted that there was no permanent security guard deputed there. “All guards earlier deputed at the museum for security purpose have retired and there have been no fresh recruitment in the past couple of years,” said N.K. Sinha, assistant superintending archaeologist of the museum.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) established the museum in 1971 to preserve and display the antiquities found during exploration and excavation of sites associated with ancient Vaishali, regarded as world’s oldest democracy. The construction of the building was completed in 1967 but it was opened for the public in 1971.

It consists of four galleries around a central courtyard. The museum possesses about 2,000 antiquities of which about 650 are on display. The antiquities belong to different periods stretching from 600 BC to 1200 AD and throw significant light on Maurya, Sunga, Kushan, Gupta and early medieval cultures.

Sources claimed that a scheme for extension of the museum was conceptualised in 2009 to display the reserve artefacts and some materials were also procured. But the extension work is still to see the light of the day.

A prize collection of the museum is a sculpture of Buddha carved out in black basalt stone and is dated to the Pala period (9th to 10th century AD). The deity is shown seated cross-legged over a double-petal lotus in bhumisparsh mudra under the Bodhi tree representing enlightenment. Also, there is a headless sculpture of Buddha in bhumisparsh mudra on the pedestal of which is shown a monkey offering honey to Buddha.

Despite the presence of such rich artefacts, the museum witnesses very less foreign tourist footfall. “The museum looks dilapidated from outside and gives a bad impression to tourists. Also, there is hardly any promotion of the artefacts kept there. Tourists mostly look for extremely historical artefacts in museums and they should be presented well,” said Amitabh Keshav, a Korean tourist promoter.

Museum apart, the ancient Abhishek Pushkarni is also no one’s baby at present. “Abhishek Pushkarni is neither protected by the ASI nor the state government. Accordingly, it is facing utter neglect. Though the state tourism department has constructed steps, the construction of iron railings around it is against archaeological ethics as it obstructs the view of the site,” said museum director Sinha.

Deliberating on the significance of the museum, Sinha said: “All leaders from 7,707 clans in ancient Vaishali’s Vajji republic were anointed here before their swearing-in. It used to be covered with an iron net so that even birds could not drink water from it.