A new museum is set to be built in India and to become the largest in the world. The Yuga Yugeen Bharat National Museum (YYBNM) will be delivered in partnership with France, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has said, and housed in the existing Secretariat buildings, replacing the National Museum of India as the country’s national museum. The project will span 117,000 square meters and have 950 rooms with space to display between 7,000 and 8,000 artefacts at a time.
The scheme is part of the wider Central Vista Redevelopment Project, and was first announced in May 2023. Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, said in December: “This landmark partnership with France will transform the Yuga Yugeen Bharat National Museum into a global beacon of India’s rich cultural heritage. Serving as a shining beacon of India’s rich and vibrant heritage, the YYBNM is poised to illuminate the journey toward a progressive and inclusive future.”
He added: “Far beyond the traditional idea of a museum, it will redefine the cultural experience by celebrating diversity, fostering inclusivity, and amplifying the voices of our communities.
“This iconic institution will not only honour India’s timeless legacy as the cradle of democracy but also inspire generations to come by bridging the past, present, and future in a powerful narrative of Modern India.”
But there is concern that India’s ruling party, the BJP, will attempt to use to museum to “rewrite history”.
The Wire reported in March that there has been “almost no consultation”, and the development is “an attempt to reframe India’s past in ways that chime with the BJP’s Hindutva template and efforts to reduce the vast plural fabric of India’s cultural heritage to one shade”.
Several redevelopment projects are underway in Delhi, including the demolition of the Hall of Nations and the addition of a new museum to Teen Murti dedicated to India’s prime ministers.
The Art Newspaper reported in February that an estimated budget for the YYBNM had not been released, and latest India Union Budget, released on February 1, makes no mention of the project.
However, it does state that the government has allocated 450m rupees (£3.8m) to develop museums.
Officials say the cash is related to the “expenditure of the activities relating to Museum Grant Scheme, Scheme for Promotion of Culture of Science Redevelopment of Kedarnath Project and National Experiential Site Museum at Vadnagar”.
