Maharaja Ranjit Singh

“Granted it’s not science, but it was a challenge to our technological expertise. The government had entrusted us with the job because we alone knew how to do it,” asserted director-general of National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) Ingit Mukherjee.

He was referring to the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama, recently inaugurated by the Punjab chief minister in Amritsar.

The permanent visual documentation on the ‘Lion of Punjab’ was conceptualised and designed in Salt Lake by the NCSM. The two-storeyed cylindrical museum, 39 m in diameter, has been installed near Singh’s summer palace, at Rambagh Heritage Garden in Amritsar. The Centre provided Rs 5 crore for the project.

The shape of the museum is meant to accentuate the effect of the exhibits. The same techniques had been used for the Kurukshetra Panorama Science Centre near Delhi. The NCSM also designed and installed the museum in 2001.

“The focus of the Kurukshetra facility is on science, while Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama recreates different historical episodes. In a way, this was more difficult because there were fewer finites or givens,” pointed out Mukherjee.

The prime attraction of the panorama is the 100x12 m painting depicting the six major battles fought by the maharaja. A 13-m platform on the first floor serves as the viewing deck.

The master drawings were made on a 60x6 ft canvas by a group of 10 artists over 15 months. Singh’s victories in Lahore, Kangra, Attock, Multan, Kashmir and Naushera are shown. The image was digitally enlarged about seven times and printed on vinyl sheets before installation.

“The entire work, including digital printing, was done in Calcutta,” stated Mukherjee. “Twenty sculptors worked on the diorama display and fibreglass models for 16 months.”

On the ground floor of the museum, there are more paintings and dioramas on episodes from the life of the leader.

Are more such projects on the anvil for the NCSM? “Not for another three years. We have too many projects of our own. But it is good to know we can do it,” signed of director-general Mukherjee.