A worker gives final touches to a bust of Netaji in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Jan. 21: Netaji Birthplace Museum at Odia Bazaar will wear a new look ahead of Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary to be observed on Thursday.

The complex is being given a fresh coat of paint. A painting exhibition on the leader will be organised, along with a special sand art on the occasion.

The Netaji trust board has already initiated measures for the installation of permanent lighting at an estimated cost of Rs 1.3 lakh. The permanent lighting was required to ensure a good turnout of visitors for the light-and-sound show at the museum.

However, visitors will have to wait a little more to get copies of the original letters of written by Netaji to his father Janaki Nath Bose in a booklet format.

This was supposed to be released on the occasion of Netaji’s birth anniversary this year. But the project has been delayed.

Of the 23 letters, 13 letters have been selected for printing in the booklet.

Work on the release of the autobiography of Bose, Bharat Pathik, translated in Odia, has already been completed. Officials of the museum said that the 154-page book has been translated for the first time in Odia and the visitors can purchase it for Rs 80.

The autobiography gives an insight into his school days in Cuttack.

Originally printed some 68 years ago (1355 Bengali calendar), the autobiography also contains some handwritten letters of Bose to his mother.

“The work for reprinting the letters is in progress and we hope that the project is completed at the earliest,” said museum-in-charge J.P. Das, adding that the Sahitya Akademi was publishing the autobiography and a lot of people were already inquiring about it. Besides, work for the construction of a media-cum-conference centre is on in a full swing. It is likely to be inaugurated shortly.

Workshops, competitions and other activities will be organised at the 100-seater conference centre that is being built by the state archaeological department.

The current media centre has a seating capacity of just 30 and this is inadequate.

A greenhouse is also being built at the museum at a cost of Rs 1 lakh. Rare orchids and other plants will be grown inside it. It is likely to be inaugurated in the next couple of months.