Prime Minister Shri Modi to inaugurate 2 tribal freedom fighters’ museums of the state: Chief Minister Dr. Yadav

Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will attend a programme to be organized on National Tribal Pride Day at Jamui, Bihar, on 15 November. In the programme, Prime Minister Shri Modi will virtually inaugurate 2 Tribal Freedom Fighters’ Museums of Madhya Pradesh. The museums to be dedicated by Prime Minister Shri Modi to the nation are Shri Badal Bhoi Tribal Freedom Fighters Museum of Chhindwara and Raja Shankar Shah and Raghunath Shah Freedom Fighters Museum of Jabalpur. Notably, on August 15, 2016, Prime Minister Shri Modi announced the construction of the museums dedicated to tribal freedom fighters in different states of the country.Shri Badal Bhoi Tribal Freedom Fighters Museum, Chhindwara

Shri Badal Bhoi Tribal Freedom Fighters Museum Building located in Chhindwara city has been constructed by the Public Works Department at a cost of Rs 40 crore 69 lakh. The curation work here has been done by Vanya Sansthan under the Tribal Affairs Department. It has been constructed on the available land of the old Tribal Museum. This place is situated on Pench-Pachmarhi road. There are many scenic and important places related to the tribal freedom struggle around the museum. Apart from 6 galleries, a workshop room, and a library, adequate space for an office is also available in the new Tribal Freedom Fighters Museum building. Apart from this, an open-air theater with a capacity of 800 spectators, a craft market (Shilpgram) profery and a tribal cafeteria have also been constructed here. The old Tribal Museum located in the same premises has also been renovated, in which various exhibits related to tribal culture are kept properly.

In the new Tribal Freedom Fighters Museum, 9 main tribal freedom fighters and 16 tribal freedom fighters of the state have been described and depicted live. The first gallery is dedicated to Rani Durgavati, which displays the life of Rani Durgavati, her rule, and her struggle with external invaders. The struggle carried out by the Gond kings against the taking over of the Gond states by the British government during British rule has been depicted in Gallery 2.

The Indian Forest Act was implemented by the British Government in 1927, against which the struggle undertaken by the tribal community has been displayed in Gallery-3 as ‘Jungle Satyagraha’. In the fourth gallery, the struggle of the Bheel-Bhilala tribe, who were highly skilled in guerrilla warfare, against the British government has been depicted. The struggle of heroes like Bhima Nayak, Khajya Nayak and Tantya Bheel is depicted in this gallery. Gallery 5 and 6 have been reserved for painting and photo exhibitions from time to time.Raja Shankar Shah and Raghunath Shah Freedom Fighters Museum, Jabalpur

A museum was constructed in Jabalpur in the year 2021 with the cooperation of the State Government and the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs in honour of Raja Shankar Shah and Kunwar Raghunath Shah, symbols of unparalleled bravery and indomitable courage. It has been named Raja Shankar Shah and Raghunath Shah Freedom Fighters Museum. In this museum built on one acre of land, the restoration and curation work of the museum building has been done by the Indian Cultural Fund (INTECH, New Delhi) at a cost of Rs 14 crore 26 lakh. This museum complex holds historical importance because it was here that Raja Shankar Shah and Kunwar Raghunath Shah were imprisoned for four days before their sacrifice. This building of historical importance has been restored to its original form using traditional conservation methods, so that this place, symbolizing the sacrifice of Raja Shankar Shah and Kunwar Raghunath Shah, remains a permanent source of inspiration and pride for future generations.

Gond tribal culture is displayed in the first gallery of the museum. The second gallery is dedicated to the sacrifice of the tribal freedom fighters of Madhya Pradesh who participated in the freedom struggle of 1857. The third gallery has been displayed as the Darbar Hall of Raja Shankarshah, in which the story of the sacrifice of Raja Shankarshah and Kunwar Raghunath Shah has been displayed through a film.

The rebellion of the queens and the 52nd Regiment after the sacrifice of the Raja and Kunwar, is displayed in the next gallery. In the last gallery, tribute has been paid to Raja and Kunwar through 3-D hologram. Their statues have also been installed in the jail building where the duo was imprisoned. People of the tribal community consider this place sacred and come here regularly to pay homage.