Apathy, Ignorance or Natural Death? Present State of Museums in West Bengal, India and its Implication for Anthropological Study of Culture and Policy.
Government of West Bengal has provided us with a list of museums which possess a touristic merit. These museums are showcases of the rich cultural heritage of the country and its development during prehistoric and historical times, artistic and innovative skills of the people. In spite of such a glory and apparent prosperity, the museums in the state are facing a number of problems. It is revealed that many of the museums exist only in name being seldom visited by the common people barring a few connoisseur and researchers.
One limitation is that the data is not always available with regard to the year of establishment of a particular museum. In the present classification on the types of museums, some amount of overlapping exits. Here, I have considered the principal collections in the museum for categorizing them. As there is no comprehensive list available with the government, the present author has tried to explore the available documentary sources.
In fact, the author has not come across any comprehensive text that can give a fairly rounded picture of the museums in West Bengal. However, the Directory of West Bengal Museum has fairly presented a compendium of basic information of 136 museums housed in the state of West Bengal.
This knowledge-power could have borne better food for the common people for the good of whom all institutions should run in a democracy like India, a country who has with all her strength and zeal struggled out of the colonial fetters. But this did not happen because of an imperfect negotiation between different poles in heterotrophic field of culture sired by uneven.
Anthropol Open J. 2018; 3(1): 18-31. doi: 10.17140/ANTPOJ-3-117