Ujjayanta Palace

Agartala, May 28: A historical landmark of Tripura is about to become a storehouse of history.

The state’s most imposing landmark, Ujjayanta Palace, built in the heart of Agartala on five acres of land by erstwhile monarch Radhakishore Manikya (1897-1909), is about to be converted into a museum.

The palace, originally built by the British Martin and Burn Company after it was severely damaged by a devastating earthquake in July 1897, was inaugurated in 1901. King Radhakishore’s friend and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore helped the royal family, who were rendered virtually homeless after the quake, by arranging a loan from the erstwhile British Bengal Bank to finance the construction. Tagore had stayed at the palace several times as a royal guest.

The state government decided to convert the palace into the state museum in 1993 after shifting the state Assembly to its new location in the capital complex.

Chief engineer Sunit Bhowmik said, “The work got inordinately delayed as no leading construction company of the country, including Larsen & Toubro, were willing to carry out retrofitting at the palace. Finally, work commenced in 2002, a year after the centenary celebrations and it is now in the final stages.”

He said chief minister Manik Sarkar had visited the palace yesterday and surveyed the progress.

He said besides the repairing work, beautification of the palace campus was also on. “It is expected to be open to public view by the end of this year after shifting of the museum,” he said.

But despite efforts to preserve the palace, a symbol of pride of the indigenous people, a number of indigenous party leaders have criticised the government for destroying historical sites associated with Tripura's royal past.

“This is shameful. The present town hall was built on the ruins of a royal building known as the Ujir Bari. The Birchandra Public Library, launched by erstwhile king Bir Chandra Manikya (1862-1896), was totally demolished to shift the public library to a new building. Many other important remains of Tripura's royal past, like the palace at Udaipur, Puran Haveli and the royal crematorium at Agartala where at least five kings, more than 30 queens and royal personages were cremated, are now lying uncared for,” said Narendra Debbarma, a veteran indigenous intellectual and president of the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura.

CPM office secretary Haripda Das, however, denied the allegations and said the state government was trying to preserve and protect the history of the state and added that the government had taken a lot of measures to protect the archaeological remains of Pilak and Debtamura in South Tripura and Unakoti in North Tripura districts.