People would get a look-and-feel of the upcoming Bihar Museum this Sunday. Its replica would be on display at Gandhi Maidan - the venue of the three-day Bihar Divas function.

The replica of the museum - coming up on Bailey Road - would be a prototype of the real facility estimated to cost around Rs 500 crore. It would be complete by the end of this year. A part of it could be opened to public in June.

The upcoming museum courted controversy after a PIL was filed in Patna High Court questioning the justification of the project. The court subsequently asked the state government to justify the huge expenses on the facility.

Education secretary K. Senthil Kumar, who is monitoring the preparations for the three-day-show, said: 'The building construction department, which prepared the final outlay for the construction work of Bihar Museum, will install its replica.' It would depict the features of the facility during the Bihar Divas function to be inaugurated by chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday (March 22).

The backdrop of the stage from where Nitish would inaugurate the event would be of schoolgirls riding bicycles, portraying the development of Bihar on the girls' education front.

The education department, the nodal agency for the Bihar Divas function, has asked all the government departments to set up stalls highlighting their achievements. The three-day event to mark the state's separation from the Bengal Presidency in 1912 will start on March 22.

A source said the state government would celebrate Bihar Divas in a grand way this year as in 2012. Nitish could make some key announcements from the Bihar Divas stage since this is the election year.

The theme of this year's Bihar Divas is communal harmony. Statues of four persons - a Hindu, a Muslim, a Sikh and a Christian - with stones on their shoulders would spread the message of communal harmony inside a centrally located dome. Amrit Prakash, a passout of College of Arts and Crafts, Patna, has prepared it.

Live performance of renowned Bollywood and classical singers would be the key attraction of the three-day event. On the inaugural day, Bollywood singer Sona Mohapatra and Bhojpuri folk singer Sharda Sinha would perform. The next evening, Hariharan would regale the audience. On the concluding day, Shashi Suman of Ziddi Dil fame (in Mari Kom) and Salim Merchant - one of the siblings of the celebrity duo Salim-Sulaiman - would perform.

Vyanjan Mela would be the foodies' corner. Bihar delicacies - tilkut from Gaya, khaja (sweet biscuits) from Silao, Balusahi from Sitamarhi and a mutton dish from Champaran - would be on platter there.