Bhubaneswar, Aug. 10: Youngsters in the city got a chance to catch glimpses of a forgotten chapter of the struggle for Independence against the British rule.
An exhibition inaugurated at the Odisha State Archives yesterday provided impressions of the first war of India's Independence that was launched by the native sepoys in 1857.
A number of British army officials had recorded the tumultuous events through sketches and paintings. Rare works of such artists G.F. Atkinson, James Frazer, C.H. Mecham and D.S. Greene are on display at the exhibition.
The event is being organised by the archives department in association with the Victoria Memorial, Calcutta, and treats the viewers with rare documents on the historical event.
"The collection of exhibits are quite exceptional and such records are not available in Odisha. So, the exhibition was conducted to provide the people of Bhubaneswar, especially the youngsters, an insight into the first war of Independence," said Bhagyalipi Malla, the superintendent-in-charge of the archives department.
A few fascinating exhibits include the paintings of Rani Lakshmibai leading her army against the British forces, a sketch representing the open revolt of the sepoys at Meerut and copies of the Queen's Proclamation of 1858 in Bengali, English, Hindi, and Urdu.
School and college students who visited the event were quite enthused. "I had a very faint idea about the first war of Independence and the exhibition was enlightening. I will come here again with my family," said college student Ananya Behera.
A number of important records related to the Independence movement in Odisha have also been showcased.
A report on the firing incident at Eram in 1942 is also on display.
Important documents related to the valiant fight against the British troops during the Sambalpur rebellion under the leadership of Veer Surendra Sai and the Paika uprising of 1917 have been showcased.
A large number of archival documents and records have been made online for the benefit of research scholars on the archive department's website www.odishaarchives.nic.in from today.
The documents include rare agreements, books, old maps, books and newspaper clippings belonging to the pre and post-Independence era and are related to Odisha's political, cultural, social and administrative history.
To access these documents, one needs to register online.
"There is a form available on the website that has to be filled up. Once registration is complete, the interested person has to come to the archives department to get his password and registration identity. Once this procedure is over, one can check out the entire collection of documents online," said Malla.
The archives department is in the possession of more than 16 lakh important records. More than six lakh of themhave been uploaded. The remaining will be uploaded shortly.
