10-05-2025
BSIP set to provide expertise for upcoming museum in Haridwar
Lucknow: The Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, in collaboration with the Patanjali Research Foundation Trust (PRFT) and the University of Patanjali (UOP), recently held a brainstorming session to conceptualise a project — 'Museum of Origins and Continuum: A Journey of India's Land, Life, and Legacy' — to be established in Haridwar.
BSIP, which has a state-of-the-art museum with a rich fossil collection, will provide its expertise for the establishment of the upcoming museum. Eminent scholars, scientists, historians, and technocrats deliberated on a comprehensive museum blueprint covering the evolution of earth, life, civilisation, and India's cultural renaissance.
The session commenced with an inaugural address by Acharya Balkrishna, who addressed the gathering by highlighting a pressing issue: the weakening of our roots. Acharya emphasised that India cannot be fully comprehended through conventional historical narratives alone and must instead be understood from a global civilisational perspective.
Meanwhile, Swami Ramdev discussed the "marginalisation of India's illustrious past" and asserted the pivotal role of Patanjali in reviving and safeguarding the nation's ancient cultural heritage.
BSIP director Prof Mahesh G Thakkar introduced the concept of the proposed state-of-the-art museum during the session. The museum will encompass a vast thematic scope — from the origin of the earth, solar systems, and planetary formation to the emergence of life as a progression from primordial life forms to complex organisms, the development of flora and fauna, culminating in human civilisation, culture, and the Indian Renaissance.
He highlighted its potential to provide a comprehensive and integrated perspective on India's scientific, cultural, and traditional legacy, thereby bridging significant gaps in existing historical accounts.
