Bhima Devi Museum to open in Haryana

Chandigarh, July 12 : Bhima Devi Museum, one of the oldest and only one of its kind open air museum, in the Pinjore town in Haryana will be opened for public Monday.

Kiran Choudhry, minister of state for tourism, told reporters here Sunday: 'Bhima Devi temple, a ninth century temple, was earlier known as Bhim Nagar. This area had faced numerous invasions in the past and it is believed that in 1661, a governor of the Mughal empire demolished this temple completely.'

'Now it has been renovated into a world class ancient museum. The central government had provided Rs.7.8 million (Rs.77.82 lakh) and the archaeology department of Haryana had sanctioned Rs.8.2 million (Rs.82.15 lakh) for the development of this museum,' she added.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will inaugurate this museum Monday in Pinjore, around 30 km from Chandigarh.

This museum is spread over an area of eight acres and is integrated with the famous Pinjore Gardens that are thronged by hundreds of tourists everyday.

'Around 85 ancient sculptures have been installed at different places of the museum. As per Hindu belief, to protect the eight directions, idols of Indra, Agni, Varun, Vayu and Ishan have been installed in the outer walls of the museum complex,' Choudhry said.

'There are ancient statues of various Hindu gods like Shiva, Parvati, Vishnu, Ganesha and Kartikaya. Many rock edicts, with ancient writings on them, have also been placed here,' she added.